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Allrounder talks to ESPNcricinfo about her desires from the World Cup, not having her wife in the squad, and about the hosts’ campaign so far

Valkerie Baynes17-Feb-2023Marizanne Kapp has likened leaving Dane van Niekerk out of South Africa’s T20 World Cup side to ripping Meg Lanning out of the Australia team.As the hosts prepare for a must-win clash with the Australians at her home ground of St George’s Park on Saturday night, Kapp called on South Africa’s senior players to step up against the title favourites. But she believed the absence of van Niekerk – also her wife – left a hole in the team.”If you ask anyone, they’re going to lie if they say no,” Kapp told ESPNcricinfo. “It’s like taking a Meg Lanning out of the Australian team. She is definitely missed but I think the girls have been coping well and now it’s up to the seniors to put up their hands.”This past year has been extremely tough for Dane. She’s really been struggling, she’s been working hard and to miss out at the end there, by that close, it really hurts her. She took her time to try and get over it. It still hurts, I know when I speak to her it still hurts but I think she’s been coping well. It’s been helping that she’s been commentating so you kind of still feel like she’s involved in the World Cup. Luckily now with the WPL, she got to a gig there so I think for her confidence that would be good if she just gets on the park again.”It has been a turbulent time for Kapp after van Niekerk was left out of the World Cup squad for failing the 2km time trial element of the selection criteria while attempting a comeback from a broken ankle suffered more than a year ago. Kapp took leave from the team during their tri-series final against India to return home and rejoined the squad ahead of the World Cup, where van Niekerk is now working as a commentator.”It’s been difficult, I’m not going to lie,” Kapp said. “But I think it was for all the girls. You never want distractions in and around your team, especially heading into a big tournament like this. I was a bit annoyed with the whole situation and all of that just because I felt like it probably could have got dealt with a bit earlier and not in the middle of a series, that’s why I went home. But that’s the past now and we’re moving on. We’ve not been at our best but we’ve been sticking together as a team and I guess that’s sport and that’s life so you just have to carry on and we have a job to do.”‘We’re still not near playing our best cricket so hopefully we keep on improving’•ICC/Getty Images

On top of all that was the WPL auction. Kapp is heading to Delhi Capitals for 1.5 crore (USD 183,000 approx) and van Niekerk picked up by Royal Challengers Bangalore for her base price of 30 lakh (USD 37,000 approx). Then followed the announcement of retentions for the Women’s Hundred, where Oval Invincibles kept hold of Kapp but not van Niekerk, who has now registered for the draft.Moreover, Kapp has been battling illness which prevented her from training after Monday’s win until Friday. But she had a solid hit out in the nets and a bowl on the eve of the Saturday fixture. With her hometown of Gqeberha having never hosted a women’s international, Kapp said she was determined to play.”It’s going to be very special for me personally,” she said. “I’ve always nagged them that I want to at least play one game at home before I retire one day, so it’s a big day and hopefully there’s quite a few people coming out tomorrow so I’m really excited.”Tomorrow might be a bit of a struggle, but I’m hoping to go out there and play. The girls have been preparing really well. So we know what we have to do tomorrow. It’s a big game for us as a team and then for me personally. I wouldn’t want to miss tomorrow, that’s why I came out today to train and see how I feel, but definitely up for the challenge.”South Africa were on the back foot after losing the first game of the tournament against Sri Lanka, who now sit second behind Australia in group A with one more game, against New Zealand on Sunday, to play. South Africa face Bangladesh in the final match of the group stage, after which Sri Lanka, New Zealand and South Africa could potentially all be locked on four points behind Australia. New Zealand, who were thumped by Australia and South Africa, defeated Bangladesh on Friday to give themselves hope, although the margin of their first two defeats hit their net run rate significantly.”We were just so annoyed with ourselves,” Kapp said about losing the first game. “If I’m being honest, we were probably a bit laid back going into that Sri Lanka game, especially after winning that tri-series. You don’t go out there to not perform well, but I think it was just a bit of a wake-up call for us and we kind of rocked up to the World Cup a bit later and now we kind of have to pay for that. Luckily we brought it back in that second game. We’re still not near playing our best cricket so hopefully we keep on improving.”South Africa have never beaten Australia in a T20I and Lanning’s side are undefeated at this tournament. But Kapp dismissed that record, saying “tomorrow’s a new day”. The last time the sides met in the format was at the previous edition of this tournament, in their rain-affected semi-final which eventual champions Australia won by five runs.Shelley Nitschke, Australia’s head coach, said: “They have nothing to lose, so we expect them to throw everything at us and we need to make sure we’re ready. They’ve got some really damaging players, both with bat and ball, that can take a game away from us and they have the support of the home crowd, so we need to make sure we are on our game.”

Team will not take a knee but has decided to demonstrate commitment to inclusion

Firdose Moonda26-Nov-2020The South Africa men’s team will make a statement of anti-racism when they take on England in the white-ball series starting Friday. Their action, which will not be the taking of a knee, has been unanimously agreed on by all members of the squad and will demonstrate their commitment to inclusion.A source close to the team told ESPNcricinfo that the decision was made in the last few days, upon reflection, after their stance on not taking a knee was made public and widely criticised. They will also be wearing black armbands in support of the fight against gender-based violence and to mourn the lives lost to coronavirus.ALSO READ: Mixed BLM messages epitomise South Africa’s moral mazeSouth Africa’s revised position comes after coach Mark Boucher initially indicated that the team would not make any gestures in support of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement because they felt it was “not something that we have to continue to show, it’s something you have to live.” That was followed by Kagiso Rabada confirming he was “100%” in support of BLM but that the team had collectively made a decision not to take a knee. Rassie van der Dussen was then prevented from answering a question on the subject by CSA.By Wednesday, former national fast bowler Makhaya Ntini, who took a knee alongside current director of cricket Graeme Smith at the 3TC match in July, told he felt Smith should instruct the taking of a knee again as the international season begins. That afternoon the players sent out a statement reiterating their commitment to dismantling racism but saying that they regarded it as a “process, not an event”.The statement did not rule out the making of any gestures, but the rhetoric earlier in the week had appeared to. However, the team have since sought to find other ways to show their support for racial equality and will demonstrate them on Friday.Insiders confirmed that several members within the team were against taking a knee for religious reasons, as it thought that kneeling is an act to be done only before God, but that a new solution has been found.England’s players, who took a knee during their home series against West Indies and Ireland, but not for the visits of Pakistan and Australia, are likely to support South Africa in whatever gesture they perform. ESPNcricinfo understands they will also be wearing black armbands in solidarity with CSA on GBV and Covid-19.”As a team, as a squad, across all three formats, we’ve spoken about how we can create meaningful change over a period of time that is extremely authentic to every player and staff member within our group,” Eoin Morgan, England’s captain, said. “When we put our weight and our voice behind something, we feel that’s extremely powerful.”

Young batsman describes ‘unbelievable feeling of elation’ as long, lonely nets flash before his eyes

George Dobell21-Aug-2020Zak Crawley experienced “an unbelievable feeling of elation” the moment he reached a maiden Test century on the first day of the final Test against Pakistan.Crawley, the 22-year-old from Kent, has earned a reputation as one of the hardest workers in game. But the moment he reached the milestone, he says his career “flashed before my eyes” and he knew all the hard work was worth it.”I could see the nets,” he said. “I could see all the times I’ve gone to hit balls on my own. You do question yourself when you’re in a run of ducks.”But it all seemed worth it. It was a feeling that it was all worth it.”It’s the best feeling I’ve had on a cricket field. Just how I imagined it. It was an unbelievable feeling of elation out there and it makes you want it more. Hopefully there are a few more to come after this.”Zak Crawley eases into a drive•Getty Images

Crawley, who had only three first-class centuries heading into this game, admitted he experienced some nervous moments as the milestone approached; not least when the tea interval was taken when he had 97.”I was really nervous,” he said. “It was good I didn’t see tea coming because I might have tried to play a big shot. I wouldn’t have chosen to be on 97 at tea.”As it was, he brought up his hundred in the first over after the break with a punch through the covers off Mohammad Abbas.”I was on 99 with one ball of the over left and I didn’t want to have to wait an over on 99,” he said. “So I was determined to play a shot to that ball.”To find the gap and to run two and come back knowing I had my first Test hundred… I was trying to stay calm but inside I was absolutely buzzing.”Early in Crawley’s career, he realised he had improvement to make against spin bowling, so he paid for himself to travel to Mumbai where he took part in a training camp. At other times, he has travelled to Perth to work with renowned batting coach, ‘Noddy’ Holder and spent a couple of winters playing Grade cricket.”I try to go over to Perth every year,” he said, “I’ve been four or five times. I’ve enjoyed working with Noddy. He’s a brilliant coach and I love the way he talks about the game.”I do as much work as I can with Rob Key over the summer. I try to see him once a month to stay in check. He has a great cricket brain.”I did go out to India, but most of the lads have done that. I’m no different. There’s been a lot of hard work, but I wouldn’t swap it for anything, I’ve enjoyed it. It feels worth it now.”

BCCI president says India have no choice if Test cricket needs to attract crowds

Nagraj Gollapudi25-Oct-2019India are getting closer to playing day-night Test cricket. According to BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, Indian captain Virat Kohli has told him he is “agreeable” to day-night Tests although there is no definitive date as to when it would happen.Ganguly said India had no choice and playing day-night Tests was the “way forward” if Test cricket needed to attract crowds. That is what he told Kohli during their meeting in Mumbai on Thursday at the BCCI headquarters. It was the first meeting between Ganguly and Kohli after the former captain took charge as BCCI president on October 23.”We all are thinking about this. We will do something about this,” Ganguly said on Friday at the Eden Gardens at an event organised by Cricket Association of Bengal to felicitate him on him taking charge at BCCI. “I am a big believer in day-night Tests. Kohli is agreeable to it. I see a lot of reports in newspapers that he is not, but that is not true. The game needs to go forward and that is the way forward. People should finish work and come to watch champions play. I don’t know when that will happen, but it will.”India, No.1 on the ICC’s Test rankings, and Bangladesh are the only teams (outside of newly promoted Ireland and Afghanistan) to never have played a pink ball Test cricket since Australia and New Zealand featured in the first one in 2016.Now, with the World Test Championship under way, the onus is on the host board to organise day-night Tests, but the BCCI had expressed its reluctance, mainly because India wanted to protect its points and Indian players had not played enough first-class cricket under lights.Sourav Ganguly holding his first press conference after being appointed the BCCI president•AFP

Ganguly has been pushing for India to play with the pink ball even when he was head of the BCCI’s technical committee. In the past, he had recommended that the BCCI continue to invest in playing Duleep Trophy under lights, an experiment first used in 2016. This season the board had initially planned for the Duleep final to be a day-night affair only to change its mind at the last minute.When day-night Tests were launched, the ICC had said that it was a way to let fans come back to the ground after work and have a nice time. The first one in Adelaide was packed on all three days.Earlier this week Kohli had suggested BCCI could limit Test cricket to five of the big venues in India, saying one of the advantages of doing that would be attracting large crowds. His comments came after the final two Tests of the South Africa series were played to sparse crowds in Pune and Ranchi. Ganguly thinks day-night Tests could be a good option to sort that problem too.”Cricket needs a change,” he said. “Who had thought that T20 cricket will be such a rage when it was first played? Even we (senior players) were asked to rest when the format was first played. See lifestyles have changed. No one can afford to bunk schools or offices these days to watch cricket. They need to be brought to the ground after day’s work.”India’s upcoming Test calendar includes a two-match series against Bangladesh in November and a three-match series in New Zealand next February and March

The left-arm quick recently opted out of an NZC central contract to pursue a career playing in T20 leagues around the world

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Oct-2017Mitchell McClenaghan has signed up with the Sydney Thunder ahead of the 2017-18 Big Bash League. The left-arm quick, who has played 48 ODIs and 28 T20Is for New Zealand, recently opted out of his NZC central contract in a bid to pursue a career playing in T20 leagues around the world.McClenaghan was part of Mumbai Indians’ title-winning squad in the 2017 season of the Indian Premier League, and followed that up by playing for St Lucia Stars in the Caribbean Premier League. He is also set to play for Durban Qalandars in the newly launched T20 Global League in South Africa shortly before he joins his Thunder team-mates in the BBL.It was while playing in the CPL that McClenaghan decided to sign for the Thunder, he told .”I spent some time at the St Lucia Stars with Shane Watson and got to know his outlook on the game and hear his passion for Sydney Thunder and the organisation,” McClenaghan said. “I’ve admired watching his career and seeing how it’s progressed. I enjoyed playing alongside him in St Lucia and I think I’ll learn a lot from him during my time with Thunder.”I grew up in Australia and watched a lot of Aussie cricket and to have the opportunity to play in the Big Bash is something I’m really looking forward to. The Big Bash is a fantastic spectacle, the atmosphere is amazing and skill levels are incredible.”McClenaghan joins a bowling group that includes quicks Pat Cummins, Clint McKay and Gurinder Sandhu as well as the legspinner Fawad Ahmed. Michael Hussey, the Thunder’s director of cricket, said signing another frontline bowler had been “top priority” ahead of the 2017-18 season.”I’m looking forward to seeing Mitch in action for Thunder, he’s a bowler with experience playing in high pressured games at both domestic and international level,” Hussey said. “We’ve been monitoring his situation with New Zealand Cricket and are pleased to be able to bring him to the Big Bash for the summer.”

Durham snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in today’s Clydesdale Bank 40 match against Leicestershire at Chester-le-Street

14-Aug-2011
Durham snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in today’s Clydesdale Bank 40 match against Leicestershire at Chester-le-Street.After a week in which they lost to Hampshire in the Friends Life t20 quarter-finals and in the County Championship, Durham were bowled out for 192 by Leicestershire and then saw their opponents romp to 72 without loss in reply.But spinners Ian Blackwell and Gareth Breese then picked up six wickets between them as the visitors were dismissed for 155 to hand Durham a 37-run victory. Leicestershire batted a man short because Australian allrounder Andrew McDonald suffered a knee injury after bowling five overs for 18 runs.With James Taylor, like Durham pair Ben Stokes and Scott Borthwick, on England Lions duty, Leicestershire were short of batting.Durham kept alive their hopes of a semi-final place despite a below-par batting performance. They were all out with 17 balls unused and were indebted to left-handed opener Mark Stoneman making 73 in his first one-day appearance of the season.On his comeback from injury, Leicestershire captain Matthew Hoggard took 2 for 26. He persuaded Paul Collingwood to sky a catch to mid-off after making seven, while Blackwell miscued to cover after hitting three sixes in making 43 off 40 balls. Going in at 66 for 4, Blackwell gave the innings impetus with two sixes over mid-wicket in an over from offspinner Jigar Naik.In reply, Leicestershire looked like coasting to victory until their opening stand of 72 ended in the 13th over when Josh Cobb sliced Callum Thorp to backward point to depart for 37. It was the first of four catches for Collingwood, who held the other three at slip off the spinners.Even at 117 for 2 the visitors were clear favourites, but two wickets fell on that total as Blackwell and Breese both bowled wicket maidens. It was left-armer Blackwell who ended Jacques du Toit’s innings of 56 off 65 balls to finish with 2 for 15 in his eight overs.Breese’s second wicket came when Wayne White, having hit 12 runs off the first five balls of an over, reverse swept the last one straight to backward point. Breese also took the last two wickets to finish with 4 for 21.

Kevin Pietersen is unlikely to spend much time in the Surrey dressing room but faces the prospect of some serious ribbing after falling to a team-mate

ESPNcricinfo staff11-May-2011Kevin Pietersen is unlikely to spend much time in the Surrey dressing room this summer, but faces the prospect of some serious ribbing after falling to a team-mate who was playing for Cambridge MCCU during his comeback match at Fenner’s. To add further spark to Pietersen’s dismissal the bowler who had him caught at slip, Zafar Ansari, is a left-arm spinner.Ansari, 19, is on the Surrey staff and highly rated by the coaching team but on this occasion was playing against the county for his university team. He had one previous first-class wicket to his name so Pietersen was a notable second scalp when he fell shortly after lunch.Pietersen, who was playing his first match since leaving the World Cup with a hernia in March, came to the crease in the 16th over. Unsurprisingly after a lengthy lay-off his innings had scratchy moments but he also struck two straight sixes until he was well caught by Chris Park.Ansari went on to claim an impressive 5 for 33 before Pietersen, captaining what is effectively a Surrey second XI, declared at 234 for 9.After a second innings in this game Pietersen will have a County Championship match against Essex at Whitgift School next to week to increase his preparation ahead of the first Test against Sri Lanka at the end of the month. If Pietersen feels he needs extra batting, and the ECB release him to play, Surrey have a CB40 match against Scotland in Edinburgh on Sunday and another against Hampshire on May 22.

The DDCA was warned twice from different sources that the Kotla pitch needed a lot of attention before the fifth ODI

Nagraj Gollapudi28-Dec-2009Among the several alerts, official and otherwise, raised about the condition of the Kotla pitch is one from the very highest level: An ICC team inspecting the stadium in connection with the 2011 World Cup passed a scathing indictment of the pitch and said “a considerable improvement of the pitch block” would be required to “make the pitch more acceptable” for Sunday’s game.The chief executive of the ICC Haroon Lorgat, speaking in New Delhi on Monday, did not comment on whether this report would have any bearing on the investigation of Sunday’s fiasco but said it would be taken into consideration.”There is an ODI at this venue on 27th December 2009 and considerable improvement of the pitch block will be required by then to make the pitch provided more acceptable” said the report, a copy of which is with Cricinfo. The inspection was carried out on November 4, three days after third ODI of the India-Australia series.That game, and earlier games during the Champions League Twenty20 where batsmen struggled to counter the low and slow nature of the various pitches on the square, was noted in the November report. “During the Champions League and the India vs Australia ODI series, it was well documented that the performance and condition of the pitches at the stadium were a cause of concern for the players,” the report said.The problem with the Kotla pitch – which has already been relaid four times in the last five years under four different curators – stems from the decision, taken immediately after the second IPL was shifted to South Africa, to relay the entire square. During the Champions League Daljit Singh, till Sunday the head of the BCCI’s grounds and wickets committee, said it would take about a year for the re-laid pitches to get seasoned. That point of view seems to have been overlooked with the Indian board deciding to stage at Kotla first the Australia ODI and, within two months, the game against Sri Lanka.The ICC’s inspectors, though, were never in doubt about the quality of the surface and their report offered some prescriptions for the longer term. “The pitch block was reconstructed recently and it is clear to see that there are some important issues with the present condition of the pitch surface that it is essential to address prior to CWC 2011.”As a remedial measure it suggested that the surface level across the entire square needed to be “readjusted in several areas” to help in growing the grass. The DDCA ground authorities, working with Daljit, had been experimenting with the grass, which resulted in the tufts of green spread across the pitch on which Sri Lanka batted.There has been much talk of differences between local and centralized pitch officials and this was clear to the ICC inspection team. “It was apparent when speaking with the local officials that they are reluctant to openly discuss the problems they are having with the pitch and that they are to some extent in variance with the BCCI Pitch Consultant (Daljit Singh) regarding how they are to move forward to resolve the problems with this surface.”According to the ICC team the DDCA were adamant on replanting the pitches with local grass, which they felt would take care of the problem. But that idea was fraught with dangers. “To simply replant without this major renovation of the surface would be a major miscalculation, and would result in inadequate pitches at a later date,” the report said.”The dead and the decaying grass and roots left in the soil profile will break down into organic matter and will contribute to the dilution of the clay content of the soil and contribute to the pitches produced in the future being slow in pace, spongy in texture, and would tend to generate slow and inconsistent bounce from the pitches in the future.”

Stand-in Superchargers captain Matthew Short expects “a lot of energy” from new head coach

Matt Roller25-Jul-2024Andrew Flintoff is “raring to go” for his first head coach role and will be “at his happiest” when his Northern Superchargers play Trent Rockets on Friday night. That is according to Kyle Hogg, Flintoff’s assistant at the Superchargers and his right-hand man ever since they met as teenagers making their way at Lancashire.”I was around Lancs as a 16-year-old playing in the second team, and he’d have been 19 or 20,” Hogg told ESPNcricinfo. “I don’t want to say he took me under his wing – but he probably did, really. He looked after me in the dressing room and we’ve been close friends for about 25 years, which is scary. He’s never changed one bit from the first day I met him to today.”Related

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Hogg, who has worked as a pathway coach at Lancashire and is an assistant coach at the Thunder women’s team, was asked late last year if he would be interested in working with Flintoff in the Hundred. They have recently worked together on the BBC series and Hogg did not need much convincing: “Any time he comes calling, you’ve never turning him down.”Flintoff has been working in England’s white-ball set-up as an assistant coach and has been mentioned as a potential successor to Matthew Mott. But Hogg played those links down, saying: “He’s been in TV for the last 15 years. This is his first time in cricket, so I guess it’s, see how he finds it. What happens in the future, who knows?”But at the moment, he loves being part of cricket again… He went from being a cricketer to, every time you switch a TV on, he was doing something different. But he’s never changed once. He’s got his core group of friends who have always been there, forever. He’s had a tough few years, and it’s great to see him back in a cricket environment.”Matthew Short will deputise as Superchargers captain•PA Images via Getty Images

The Superchargers are light on players, so much so that their strength and conditioning coach took part in Wednesday’s practice match against the South Asian Cricket Academy. Harry Brook and Ben Stokes are with England’s Test squad, Mitchell Santner is at Major League Cricket and Reece Topley will miss at least a week with a finger injury. Matthew Potts will, at least, be made available by England.*Brook is due to captain but Matthew Short, the Australian opener, will deputise for two games after leaving MLC early. “The Superchargers showed some faith in me, retaining me for this year, and I thought, ‘al lright, I’ll commit to these guys 100 percent,” Short told ESPNcricinfo on Thursday, barely 24 hours after flying into the UK from Dallas. “It’s a bloody fun tournament.”Short had sorted his retention for 2024 before Flintoff’s appointment but said he is excited to work with him. “He’s been great: he’s probably even more excited than the players at the moment. He loves to be on this side of the fence here at Headingley. I’m sure everyone is going to get around Freddie and help him out. We love having him around.”At the T20 World Cup, where he was a travelling reserve, Short asked England’s players about Flintoff’s characteristics. “From what I’ve heard, he’s a bit of the modern-day coach now, especially in white-ball cricket. It feels like he’s got a lot of fun and a lot of energy to bring. He’s going to be nice and relaxed, and I’m sure it’s going to be a really nice environment.”Their main discussions so far have been “around the whereabouts of all the players,” Short said, laughing. “How we want to play as a team is pretty hard to work out in a couple of days, so we’re going to have to learn on the go in that regard. The guys have played enough cricket to know what to do and know what they’re doing personally.”Flintoff and Hogg were long-time Lancashire team-mates•Getty Images

Hogg spent 14 seasons playing for Lancashire’s first team and admitted it felt strange to be in the home dressing at Headingley, the home ground of their fierce rivals Yorkshire. “It is probably hard to get your head around it,” he said. “But we’ve come in and felt like this is our home, which is really good. We want this to be our fortress.”[Flintoff] would have played here a lot more than I have over the years. He said even playing for England, sometimes you’d get a bit of grief being a Lancastrian which is part and parcel of it. But as everybody knows with Fred, anything he does, he does it 110%. He’s more excited than probably anybody: he is raring to go.”Cricket is what he loves, that’s the bottom line. He loves the preparation and everything that goes with it, and tomorrow night, when we get going, he’ll be at his happiest… he’ll be the same as he is in all walks of life. He’ll want the lads to give it everything, [just like] how he played his cricket. He’ll be there for all the players, and he’ll want them to enjoy it.”July 26, 1600 GMT – This story was updated to reflect Nicholas Pooran’s arrival in Leeds