Sports
South Africa name Wandile Gwavu as white-ball fielding coach
Three days after securing automatic qualification to the 2023 World Cup, South Africa are filling up their backroom staff ahead of the tournament. Wandile Gwavu has been named white-ball fielding coach and will work under Rob Walter, who was appointed earlier in the year, and alongside batting coach JP Duminy.
A permanent bowling coach is yet to be identified after Rory Kleinveldt did the job in an interim capacity last summer.
Gwavu joins the national men’s set-up after four seasons at the Johannesburg-based Lions team, where he won five titles. He has also worked with the Jozi Stars in the now defunct Mzansi Super League and with the Joburg Super Kings in the SA20. In addition, he been involved with South Africa’s Under-19 and A sides.
“He brings a wealth of experience at the highest level in South African cricket with a coaching career that speaks volumes,” Enoch Nkwe, South Africa’s director of cricket said. “With the fine margins and the ever-increasing stakes in 50-over and T20 cricket, fielding has become a critical part of any successful team and we strongly believe Wandile’s expertise will help the Proteas maintain their strong tradition of fielding excellence across both formats.”
Gwavu replaces Justin Ontong, who was part of Mark Boucher’s coaching staff and is understood to have applied for the vacant position at Paarl, where Duminy was head coach. Both Paarl and the Lions are now searching for new head coaches ahead of the 2023/24 season. Gwavu’s first assignment with the team will be the white-ball series against Australia which starts on August 30 and includes three T20Is and five ODIs.
(Cricinfo)
Latest News
Pakistan docked five WTC points for slow over rate during Cape Town Test
Pakistan have been docked five World Test Championship (WTC) points and fined 25% of their match fee for maintaining a slow over rate during their 10-wicket defeat in the second Test against South Africa in Cape Town. They were ruled to be five overs short of their target after time allowances were taken into consideration.
Match referee Richie Richardson imposed the sanction, which Pakistan captain Shan Masood accepted after pleading guilty to the charge – levelled by on-field umpires Kumar Dharmasena and Nitin Menon, third umpire Alex Wharf and fourth umpire Stephen Harris – which meant that was no need for a formal hearing.
Teams are deducted one point for every over by which they fall short of their target. This is Pakistan’s third points deduction in the 2023-25 WTC cycle. They were docked two points after the first Test against Australia in Perth in December 2023, and six points following the first Test against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi in August 2024.
As a consequence, Pakistan now have 35 points – instead of a possible 48 – from 12 Tests in the 2023-25 cycle. The latest deduction has brought their percentage of points contested – the number that determines a team’s position on the WTC table – down from 27.78 to 24.31. They remain in eighth place as before, but their points percentage is now only a few decimal points better than West Indies, who occupy the bottom of the nine-team table with a percentage of 24.24 – with no over-rate deductions.
The deduction adds a layer of intrigue to one of the two remaining series in the 2023-25 WTC cycle – Pakistan are due to host West Indies for two Tests, in Karachi and Multan, starting January 16.
[Cricinfo]
Sports
Keir Starmer calls on ICC to ‘deliver own rules’ amid Afghanistan boycott row
Keir Starmer, the UK prime minister, has called on the ICC to “deliver on their own rules” when it comes to women’s rights in Afghanistan*, as he weighed into the row over England’s scheduled Champions Trophy clash with the country’s cricketers next month.
England are due to face Afghanistan in Lahore on February 26 in their second match of the tournament, and the ECB is under pressure to take action after receiving a letter from the Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi, signed by a cross-party group of more than 160 politicians, including Jeremy Corbyn, Lord Kinnock and Nigel Farage.
The letter raised concerns over the “insidious dystopia” and “sex apartheid” in Afghanistan, where women’s sport has effectively been outlawed since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021. The men’s cricket team has played England twice in this period, solely at ICC global events, including a famous victory in their most recent meeting at the 2023 ODI World Cup.
“We strongly urge the England men’s team players and officials to speak out against the horrific treatment of women and girls in Afghanistan under the Taliban,” the letter, addressed to Richard Gould, the ECB’s chief executive, continued.
“We also urge the ECB to consider a boycott of the upcoming match against Afghanistan … to send a clear signal that such grotesque abuses will not be tolerated. We must stand against sex apartheid and we implore the ECB to deliver a firm message of solidarity and hope to Afghan women and girls that their suffering has not been overlooked.”
Responding to the letter, Gould rejected calls for a boycott, saying that the Taliban regime’s clampdown on women’s rights is a matter that requires a “co-ordinated, ICC-led, response” rather than unilateral action from individual countries.
That stance has now received support from Downing Street.
“The ICC should clearly deliver on their own rules and make sure that they’re supporting women’s cricket as the ECB do,” the prime minister’s spokesman said. “That’s why we support the fact that the ECB are making representations to the ICC on this issue.
“The erosion of women’s and girls’ rights by the Taliban is clearly appalling. We’ll work with the ECB on this issue, we’re in contact with them. Ultimately this is a matter for the ICC in relation to the Champions Trophy.”
The situation echoes the dilemma that England’s cricketers faced at the 2003 World Cup, when Nasser Hussain’s team were urged to boycott their group-stage match with Zimbabwe, then led by Robert Mugabe – a decision that was ultimately left to the players, and resulted in a points forfeiture that scuppered their qualification for the tournament’s latter stages.
Gould’s response to Antoniazzi confirmed that the ECB has no intention of engaging in a bilateral series with Afghanistan while the Taliban regime is in power, but insisted that their participation at ICC events was a matter for the governing body as a whole, and not for individual members.
“The ECB strongly condemns the treatment of women and girls in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime,” Gould wrote. “The ICC constitution mandates that all member nations are committed to the growth and development of women’s cricket. In line with this commitment, the ECB has maintained its position of not scheduling any bilateral cricket matches against Afghanistan,” he continued.
“While there has not been a consensus on further international action within the ICC, the ECB will continue to actively advocate for such measures. A coordinated, ICC-wide approach would be significantly more impactful than unilateral actions by individual members.
“We acknowledge and respect the diverse perspectives on this global issue,” Gould added. “We understand the concerns raised by those who believe a boycott of men’s cricket could inadvertently support the Taliban’s efforts to suppress freedoms and isolate Afghan society.
“It’s crucial to recognise the importance of cricket as a source of hope and positivity for many Afghans, including those displaced from the country. The ECB is committed to finding a solution that upholds the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan while also considering the broader impact on the Afghan people.
“We will continue to engage in constructive dialogue with the UK government, other stakeholders, the ICC, and other international cricket boards to explore all possible avenues for meaningful change.”
[Cricinfo]
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