Rain brought an early finish to the first Twenty20 and England edged home by one run so South Africa need a victory to level the short series

Preview by Andrew McGlashan14-Nov-2009

Match facts

Sunday, November 15, 2009
Start time 14.30 (12.30GMT)Plenty to smile about: Eoin Morgan has proved a revelation in England’s limited-overs batting line-up•Getty Images

Big picture

A highveld thunderstorm put paid to a potentially gripping finish to the opening Twenty20 but the action before the rain was still thoroughly entertaining in ideal conditions for quick scoring. With Albie Morkel and AB de Villiers in the middle, South Africa would still have fancied their chances of chasing down more than 10-an-over to win, while England’s bowlers were clawing back their figures are severe punishment from Loots Bosman.Not that England were short on boundaries. Eoin Morgan gave another display of his huge talent and Paul Collingwood showed there is plenty of life in the old(ish) dog yet. The tourists’ new-found freedom in limited-overs cricket is certainly the way forward. There will be days when it fails spectacularly, but as they learn how to adapt their aggression to conditions it will serve them well.So South Africa are left needing to win the second Twenty20 to square the series and finish the first phase of this long head-to-head on even terms. They will want to sharpen their bowling skills after they tended to feed Morgan’s leg-side strength, but Centurion should offer more high-scoring conditions. The main concern for England is the number of niggles the players are already picking up with James Anderson and Graeme Swann missing training along with Collingwood.With this being a day-game, it will hopefully mean that the full match is possible before any evening thunderstorms bubble up. However, it’s always worthwhile to keep the D-L sheets to hand.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
South Africa – LLWWW
England – WLWLW

Team news

If South Africa stick to their pre-series talk of giving all the squad a game it means some shuffling of the pack. Heino Kuhn is in line for a debut – Mark Boucher could be rested – while Jacques Kallis will return, although purely as a batsman, and Yusuf Abdulla, the left-arm seamer, is another pace option.South Africa (possible) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Loots Bosman, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 JP Duminy, 5 Albie Morkel, 6 Heino Kuhn (wk), 7 Ryan McLaren, 8 Roelof van der Merwe, 9 Johan Botha, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 Yusuf AbdullaEngland are carrying a number of players with minor niggles. Collingwood (back), Anderson (knee) and Swann (side) all missed training as a precaution and face morning fitness tests ahead of the game. With Stuart Broad still recovering from his shoulder injury, Kevin Pietersen not due to return until Tuesday and Andrew Strauss opting out of Twenty20 the squad could be stretched. Adil Rashid and Graham Onions are the two players who didn’t appear in the opening match.England (possible) 1 Joe Denly, 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Paul Collingwood (capt), 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Matt Prior (wk), 7 Luke Wright, 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 Sajid Mahmood, 11 James Anderson

Watch out for

Dale Steyn took a bit of a hammering on Friday, firstly at the hands of Trott, who took him for four consecutive boundaries, then from Morgan’s onslaught. It is still early-season for Steyn, but he doesn’t appear quite on top of his game. However, it would be foolish to read too much into his form so far and it won’t take a lot for him to turn it around. He’ll want to make a mark ahead of the contests to come and his record shows a match-winning performance is not far away.England have found something a little special in Morgan – and he likes facing South Africa. His thrilling effort at the Wanderers followed on from his display at the Champions Trophy, when he helped knock out the hosts. England’s batsmen have been criticised for their lack of sixes, but Morgan is quickly putting that right and one blow in the first match landed comfortably outside the ground.

Stats and trivia

• Joe Denly has been dismissed first ball in both his Twenty20 international innings after being trapped leg before by Charl Langeveldt at the Wanderers to following his golden duck at the hands of Brett Lee at Old Trafford.
• England’s 202 for 6 was their highest Twenty20 total while Morgan’s 85 was also their best individual effort.

Quotes

“It was just that the wicket happened to be good and I didn’t think he bowled particularly well. We don’t target any bowlers at all.”
“From my perspective, it’s a realisation that it is going to be a tough series, it’s going to be good and exciting – England have come here to play.”

The 22-year-old Pakistani legspinner has hopes of making a comeback to the national team in the West Indies next year

Cricinfo staff14-Dec-2009Mansoor Amjad, the 22-year-old Pakistani legspinner, has hopes of making a comeback to the national team for the ICC World Twenty20 to be held in the West Indies next year. Amjad, who has played an ODI and Twenty20 each for his country, has recovered from a series of injuries and was confident of achieving his goal though a strong domestic season.”It’s every player’s dream to play for their country and I cherish the two games that I have played for Pakistan,” he told the website. “I took 3 for 3 in my only over in the Twenty20 international against Bangladesh and I took 1 for 44 versus Sri Lanka in Karachi in my
only one-day international. I sincerely hope that I get another chance to show my ability on the international stage and the Twenty20 World Cup next April and May in the Caribbean is definitely a target”.Amjad has suffered a spate of injuries that hampered his domestic career, which he described as “a nightmare”, but said he was back to full fitness. “I’m feeling 100% fit after such a long time. It’s been such a frustrating time for me, having injury after injury,” he said. “I’ve had to miss so much cricket which has been very difficult for me. The worst injury was the one to my bowling hand where I damaged ligaments in my finger.”I made a few comebacks after the finger injury but the problem kept on recurring. After consulting the medical experts I was advised to take a break from cricket and only come back when I was fully fit”.In three four-day games for National Bank this season Amjad has taken ten wickets at 20.50 and
was banking on his recent form to win him a place in the national side. “I’m hoping that I can finish the Quaid-e-Azam tournament with a good performance in the final game against Sui Northern Gas Pipelines and then perform well in the forthcoming domestic 50-over and Twenty20 tournaments,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to playing regularly for National Bank in the coming weeks and months and catching the eye of the selectors.”

Andrew Strauss may have won the Ashes at his first attempt as England captain, but that has not convinced the Australians of his leadership value

Alex Brown22-Dec-2009Andrew Strauss may have won the Ashes at his first attempt as England captain, but that has not convinced the Australians of his leadership value. Only 4% of state and international cricketers surveyed in the Australian Cricketers’ Association’s annual poll rated Strauss the best opposition captain in international cricket, well behind the most revered leader, Graeme Smith, who attracted 48% of the vote.Strauss inherited one of the game’s most poisoned chalices after the Peter Moores-Kevin Pietersen split. The steady temperament and steely determination he brought to the England captaincy was widely acknowledged as having played a leading role in his side’s 2-1 Ashes triumph barely seven months later, however his deeds have failed to impress his vanquished foes.Of the surveyed centrally contracted cricketers, only 7% viewed Strauss as the best opposing skipper in international cricket. MS Dhoni, who led India to a 2-0 Test series victory over Australia last year, was voted the best rival captain by Australia’s elite (36 %), with Smith and Daniel Vettori next on 29%. Smith’s overall standing among Australian players was boosted by the voting of state cricketers, 51% of whom view him as the leading overseas captain.Despite the recent change in rankings, 87% of CA contracted players identified South Africa as the leading opposing Test nation, ahead of the top-ranked India (13%). South Africa was also rated the best rival ODI side (64%) and Twenty20 adversary (33%). Pakistan, the reigning World Twenty20 champions, received 27% of the vote in that category.Major discrepancies emerged between Australia’s state and international players in identifying the leading overseas batsman. AB de Villiers, who dominated Ricky Ponting’s team throughout home-and-away Test series over the past 14 months, was voted the best by the 25 centrally contracted players (43%) while Sachin Tendulkar was the favourite of state cricketers (39%). Only 14% of Australia’s elite cricketers rated Tendulkar the top rival batsman, on par with Jacques Kallis and trailing Kumar Sangakkara (22%).Dale Steyn was rated the leading opposition fast bowler. An overwhelming 86% of Australia’s centrally contracted players and 53% of state players voted for the South African paceman over Andrew Flintoff, Zaheer Khan and Shane Bond. Muttiah Muralitharan, with an overall approval rating of 56%, was voted the leading international spinner.In a significant boost the day after his recall to the Australian Test squad, Phillip Hughes was identified as the leading batsman under the age of 25 in Australia (54%), ahead of Callum Ferguson (29%) and Tim Paine (6%). Peter Siddle, who is set to make his competitive return for Victoria on Wednesday, was voted the country’s best under-25 fast bowler.

The Australia Under-19 captain has commended the team effort that gave his side a narrow two-wicket victory against Sri Lanka in the World Cup semi-final

Cricinfo staff27-Jan-2010Australia Under-19 captain Mitchell Marsh has commended the team effort that gave his side a narrow two-wicket victory against Sri Lanka in the World Cup semi-final. After bowling Sri Lanka out for 205 in 48.2 overs, Australia faltered in the chase, losing regular wickets before getting across the line with nine balls to spare.”I think run-chases in finals are always pretty tough and they’re the sort of games you never win two or three down,” Marsh said. “It’s a credit to the boys at the end who stuck to their guns and got us over the line.”Marsh led from the front, scoring 97 of 110 balls, including twelve fours. Even as wickets fell around him, he continued to keep the score ticking over, eventually finding able support in wicketkeeper Tom Triffitt, who made 50. The two put on 78 for the sixth wicket and Marsh noted the importance of the crucial stand, which rescued them from 93 for 5.”When you get those sorts of scores you always want to go on and make hundreds but it was a pretty good catch and at the end of the day it was just important for us to get the win,” Marsh said. “Being 5 for 93 at one stage, I think we’ve done pretty well to win and my partnership with Triff [Triffitt] towards the end there was pivotal and that’s what you need in these sorts of games.”The form of the Australian fast bowlers through the tournament has been impressive and Marsh said he was pleased with their efforts to pin down Sri Lanka to 205. “You always want to bat first on tracks like that but credit to the way the boys came out and the attitude of the fielders and bowlers,” Marsh said. “In these sorts of games if you can bowl consistently good areas you’re always going to get wickets and that’s what the two big guys [Josh Hazlewood and Alister McDermott] did at the start.”Marsh also said he had set his sights on the final against Pakistan on Saturday. He said he was excited about the challenge ahead and hoped to return home with the big prize. “Pakistan’s going to be a tough encounter, they’re a very well-drilled side and if we can just keep doing the basics right then I think we’re in for a good day Saturday,” he said. “They’ve got a fair bit of experience at the top of the order and a few good spinners so we’ll look to counter them and hopefully we can do the job.”

India’s coach remained quietly confident that a suddenly callow batting order can get the job done

S Aga07-Feb-2010South Africa believe that they have the fast bowlers to exploit early-morning swing and make inroads into an Indian line-up missing two old hands. India, with less than a 4% chance to win the game according to Cricinfo’s new Hawkeye tool, believe that they’re far from out of the contest. Recent cricket history supports that belief. In this age of placid pitches and high scoring-rates, even a total in excess of 550 is no insurance against defeat. You only have to look at two Adelaide Tests played this decade to know that.On the first occasion, in 2003, Australia rattled up 556 at a cracking pace and still lost by four wickets, with Rahul Dravid spending 835 minutes at the crease for his 305 runs. Three years later, Paul Collingwood and Kevin Pietersen added 310 as England made 551 for 6 before declaring. Their scoring rate was very similar to Australia’s in Nagpur (3.27 run an over) and few believed that they could lose when Australia slumped to 65 for 3. But then Ashley Giles dropped Ricky Ponting, Australia’s middle order dug in, and Shane Warne rediscovered his mojo on an enthralling final day.Some cricketers claim to ignore historical precedents, but there’s little doubt that such matches influence future actions. How many more times might the follow-on have been enforced in Tests this decade if not for the Dravid-Laxman show at the Eden Gardens in 2001? How much earlier might South Africa have declared on Sunday if not for memories of Chennai in 2008 when Virender Sehwag scoffed at a first-innings score of 540?The South Africans hold all the aces for the moment, but India will be well aware that four sessions of diligent and committed batting will ruffle more than a few feathers on a pitch that will see the ball turn more and more as the game progresses. “We’re going to give it our best shot,” said coach Gary Kirsten at the end of the second day’s play. “We need to go bat well. A couple of guys are going to have to apply themselves and get big scores. We know we’re capable of doing that.”Dravid, the granite plinth on which most famous Indian wins have been built, is not around, and neither is Laxman, who bats so well in tandem. But Kirsten remained quietly confident that a suddenly callow batting order can get the job done. “You’ve got two batsmen who’ve played over a 100 Tests, so obviously you’re going to miss that experience,” he said. “But I’d think it’s a great opportunity for the likes of [Murali] Vijay and [S] Badrinath to come in and do something. They’re both quality players. It’s an opportunity for them to come in against a top-ranked international team and show what they’re made of.”The bowlers will certainly hope that they can put their tired feet up for a day and more after nearly two days of largely luckless toil. At Adelaide in 2006, Warne bowled 53 overs in the first innings, with just the wicket of Geraint Jones to show for it. Amit Mishra bowled the same number of overs in Nagpur, with nothing to show for a succession of leg breaks that turned prodigiously, perhaps too much to take the edge.”From 291 for 2, we either needed to get wickets or we needed to keep the run-rate down,” said Kirsten. “We weren’t getting that many wickets, so we were happy to keep the rate down to a reasonable level. I thought the guys bowled their hearts out. It’s not an easy wicket to bowl on. I thought Mishra bowled really well for no wicket. He went past the outside edge I don’t know how many times. You have days like that when you don’t really get the result that you want.”Kirsten also refused to buy into criticism of Harbhajan Singh, who was the most expensive bowler on view, managing just one maiden in his 46 overs. “I thought Harbhajan’s rhythm today was fantastic,” he said. “He was a little unlucky at certain times. On the South African side, with Kallis and Amla, they batted exceptionally well. We just look at what we can do. If the batting on the other side is really good, you have to acknowledge that. From 6 for 2, two guys applied themselves and did a fantastic job.”All three spinners managed to get sharp, albeit slow, turn at times, and the bowlers’ footmarks will undoubtedly interest Paul Harris, who didn’t have the best of series against England. JP Duminy’s offspin could also be a factor as India seek to get within range of a huge total. “I think it’s taking some turn,” said Kirsten. “But as the South African batsmen showed, it didn’t look like it was out of hand. It’s up to us to go out and bat as well as we can.”At this stage, it doesn’t look as though it’s doing too much. We did see balls that turned a fair amount. I think we expected that it was going to start turning at some point.”That last remark was accompanied by a wry smile, though there was no humour on view when he was questioned about the squad-selection mess that left India with Wriddhiman Saha as their No.7 batsman. “You can ask the selection that question,” he said curtly, and was just as brusque when asked about Laxman’s late withdrawal. “He was not match fit. He could hit some balls, but it was a decision taken by the management and him that he wasn’t ready for a Test match.”With the specialist bowlers having shared such a heavy workload, there were queries about the wisdom of a four-man attack that ignored that India simply don’t have the allrounder needed to risk a five-bowler strategy. “In the last 15 or so Test matches, we haven’t played a fifth bowler, except for the one Test in Bangladesh,” said Kirsten. “We’ve got a pretty good record without a fifth bowler.”That record and MS Dhoni’s charmed run as captain – seven wins and no defeats in 11 games – will be subjected to intense scrutiny over the next three days. But with Sehwag having been part of huge opening stands in India’s last two home Tests, hope floats. If he can produce another defining innings, at a rate that no other batsman on the planet can come close to matching, there’ll be more than a few nerves in the South African dressing room, no matter what the scoreboard and cricketing logic say.

Ravi Bopara, who plays for the Kings XI Punjab, has delayed his departure to India for the IPL, which begins on March 12, due to security concerns

Cricinfo staff01-Mar-2010England batsman Ravi Bopara, who plays for the Kings XI Punjab, has delayed his departure to India for the IPL, which begins on March 12, due to security concerns. However Lalit Modi, the league’s commissioner, said he had spoken to Bopara and the batsman had told him he was “looking forward to coming to India”.Bopara was concerned about the contents of security advisor Reg Dickason’s report, which had named Al Qaeda group Brigade 313 as a possible threat to the IPL. “Cricket is my living and in many ways my life. But it is not worth dying for,” Bopara told the . “This is a very tricky call. I have been in touch with the franchise and they are pretty positive that things will be okay. But Reg Dickason’s report says something different.”At the moment I’m nowhere with this decision. I’ve had some contact with other players. No one has said they are definitely not going, but no one has said they definitely are either. I have pushed back my flight so I can give myself a bit more time to see what happens and whether the security measures are implemented. The franchise will want an answer in the next few days, but I will not come to a hasty decision just because I have to. I need to weigh everything up and if I could buy myself even more time, I would.”Modi, however, responded on his Twitter account by saying reports about Bopara not coming “are completely false”. Bopara, who was bought for $450,000 at the 2009 auction, is one of eight England cricketers involved in IPL 2010. Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Eoin Morgan, Owais Shah, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Graham Napier and Michael Lumb are the others.Meanwhile, the Australian players were told at a security briefing in Christchurch on Sunday that the terrorist threat from the 313 Brigade was not credible. However, Tim May, the chief executive of the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations, has said there could still be “mass withdrawals” unless players receive a commitment that the IPL’s security plans will be implemented at all venues.

Sourav Ganguly has put down Kolkata Knight Riders’ comprehensive defeat at the hands of Chennai Super Kings to poor bowling at the death and the loss of early wickets in the chase

Cricinfo staff16-Mar-2010Sourav Ganguly has put down Kolkata Knight Riders’ comprehensive defeat against Chennai Super Kings to poor bowling at the death and the loss of early wickets in the chase. Kolkata, playing at home, were in a strong position after taking three wickets – Matthew Hayden, M Vijay and Suresh Raina – in the first 10 overs. But MS Dhoni and S Badrinath retaliated with an unbeaten 109-run stand to push their team to 164, which their bowlers defended with ease.”We were not up to the mark in last five overs, gave away 60-odd runs. Then we kept losing wickets in run chase. We have to address that. Last four-five overs (of the Chennai innings) took the game away from us,” Ganguly said after his team’s first defeat in the tournament.Dhoni and Badrinath began their surge in the 15th over, when Angelo Mathews was struck for a boundary over short fine leg and a massive six over long-on. The last six overs of the Chennai innings yielded 83. “We’ll talk about our death bowling, but you have to give credit to Dhoni for the shots he played,” Ganguly said.When asked if Kolkata missed a fifth bowler, he said: “We have five bowlers with Brad Hodge and Laxmi Ratan Shukla. Probably we could have bowled Hodge a few more overs.”The Kolkata reply, too, was lacklustre. They lost their two star batsmen from the previous game, Brad Hodge and Manoj Tiwary, within the two overs, and their middle order, including Ganguly, offered little resistance as Kolkata were shot out for 109. “We played too many shots up the order and kept losing wickets. Hopefully, we’ll learn from this and come back a better team,” Ganguly said.Dhoni, despite the thumping win, expected more from his bowlers in the games to follow. “We were worried about our bowling both with the new ball and at the death,” he said. “I still think a couple of our bowlers were a little short with their length and on a slow track like this you can be punished. It’s an area which needs improvement, but it feels good to have a victory under the belt.”The slowish nature of the track, Dhoni said, ensured a score of above 150 was going to be difficult to chase. “You are always under pressure in this format of the game, but we always felt a total of 150 would be a good score on this wicket because it was on the slower side.”

Gautam Gambhir, the Delhi Daredevils captain, joined the criticism against the Feroz Shah Kotla pitch, saying that he prefered playing away games since the wicket at his home venue was not the best in the country

Cricinfo staff12-Apr-2010Gautam Gambhir, the Delhi Daredevils captain, joined the criticism against the Feroz Shah Kotla pitch after his side’s seven-wicket defeat against Kings XI Punjab, saying that he prefered playing away games since the wicket at his home venue was not the best in the country.”I personally would prefer to play away matches as a batsman and bowler. Wickets in Bangalore and Kolkata and other parts of India are better than what we have here for Twenty20,” Gambhir told PTI after his side’s seven-wicket defeat against Kings XI Punjab on Sunday. “It is difficult to play shots and score runs here. You don’t get value for your shots here.”Delhi’s powerful batting line-up collapsed to 111 all out on the crumbling wicket, with legspinner Piyush Chawla picking up 2 for 16. Fellow spinners Ramesh Powar and Yuvraj Singh proved tough to get away, and between them the spinners picked up 3 for 55 in 12 overs. Irfan Pathan also made good use of the slow pitch, picking 3 for 24.The Kotla wicket has come under the scanner ever since the fifth ODI between India and Sri Lanka in December, which was abandoned due to the unfit playing surface. Despite getting a one-year international ban, the Kotla was allowed to host IPL matches since the tournament does not come under the purview of ICC. Throughout the tournament, the pitch has favoured teams that bat first, prompting Bangalore captain Anil Kumble to term it as “not ideal for Twenty20″.”The toss is very crucial on such a track. I think 185 was too much for us to chase in this kind of wicket. It is not the ideal wicket for Twenty20,” Kumble had said after his side lost their game at the Kotla by 37 runs. On that occasion, Gambhir admitted his side had been lucky to win the toss. All four night games so far at the Kotla this year have been won comfortably by the team batting first.

Chris Tremlett, the injury-plagued England fast bowler, took 4 for 35 in his first appearance since joining Surrey from Hampshire during the winter as Gloucestershire were dismissed for 229 at The Oval

04-May-2010

ScorecardChris Tremlett enjoyed an impressive return to first-class action in his first game for Surrey•PA Photos

Chris Tremlett, the injury-plagued England fast bowler, took 4 for 35 in his first appearance since joining Surrey from Hampshire during the winter as Gloucestershire were dismissed for 229 at The Oval.Tremlett, who missed Surrey’s first three Championship matches after suffering a groin strain in pre-season practice, was soon making up for lost time after Jonathan Batty had been caught behind off Iftikhar Anjum in the first over.He had Hamish Marshall caught at second slip off his second ball and Alex
Gidman caught at square leg in his next over before James Franklin joined Chris Dent in a fourth-wicket stand of 48. Dent was then lbw to Gareth Batty, and Tremlett struck again by claiming Chris Taylor lbw. When Franklin was also lbw to Iftikhar Gloucestershire were struggling at 102 for 6.It was 127 for 7 when Jon Lewis was picked up at short leg off Chris Schofield but Steven Snell, a wicketkeeper playing as a batsman, then put together a determined partnership with Vikram Banerjee. They had put on 52 and Snell had made 48 off 68 balls with seven fours when he was caught behind driving at Stuart Meaker.Tremlett was being used in short spells and when he returned for a fifth time after tea he picked up his fourth wicket by pinning Gemaal Hussain leg before.That gave him his best return since he took 5 for 67 for Surrey against
Hampshire at the Rose Bowl in May 2008, but he was to be denied a fifth wicket by a last wicket stand of 42 between Banerjee and Steve Kirby.Kirby hit a six and two fours on his way to a defiant, unbeaten 20 and Banerjee had made a gallant 35 when he was lbw to Schofield.Gareth Batty was pressed into service as an opening batsman because Stewart
Walters has a back injury when Surrey went in with 14 overs remaining and he made a good fist of it in an opening partnership of 52 with Arun Harinath.Batty had made 31, including six fours, when he was bowled by Hussain in the penultimate over, whereupon Tremlett completed a decent day’s work by going in as night watchman and seeing Surrey to 56 for 1 by the close.

Peter Chingoka, the Zimbabwe Cricket chairman, has said Zimbabwe are looking to a return to Test cricket in 2011 following a recent meeting with ICC president David Morgan and chief executive Haroon Lorgat.

Cricinfo staff12-Jun-2010Peter Chingoka, the Zimbabwe Cricket chairman, has said Zimbabwe were looking to return to Test cricket in May 2011 with a home series against Bangladesh, following a recent meeting with ICC president David Morgan and chief executive Haroon Lorgat.”We will resume our Test commitments against Bangladesh at home in May 2011,” Chingoka was quoted as saying by . “We will then have gradual progression afterwards by playing sides we think we can compete with, like West Indies and New Zealand. We are developing a strong and competitive domestic competition as a result of the ICC task team’s recommendations, and we are now looking to make a gradual return to Test cricket sometime after the World Cup in 2011.”Chingoka added that South Africa had offered to host a one-off Test between the teams each year. “We are indebted to Cricket South Africa for their continuous support,” he said.Zimbabwe have not played a Test since 2005, after political upheaval ravaged the team and left it unable to compete at the highest level. Slowly, as order gradually returned to the country, the cricket team’s fortunes improved too, culminating in Zimbabwe’s unexpected success in the tri-series they hosted this month, where they reached the final.Chingoka felt Zimbabwe were ready to return to the Test game thanks to the series of steps taken by the board, like setting up a new high-performance coaching centre and a revamped domestic structure, which includes a franchise-based Twenty20 tournament.Both the domestic tournaments and the recently-completed Tri-Series were well attended by local supporters and Chingoka hoped cricket could establish itself as the most popular sport in the country. “We hope the return to Test cricket will continue the growth and development of people playing cricket in Zimbabwe as we aim to make cricket the number one sport in Zimbabwe within the next five years.”Morgan was delighted to see the progress being made and praised the Zimbabwe set-up for including former players, like national selector Alastair Campbell, in the management of the side. “I take great pleasure in the number of smiling faces around Zimbabwe Cricket. It is very comforting for the ICC to observe the improvement and success of the Zimbabwe team in recent months.”It is also very good from an ICC perspective to see former players returning to the squad and also taking up support roles around the team. The recent results have been a good story for the Zimbabwe cricket team and the ICC is pleased to have played a part in that progress.”