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On their last tour to SA, they became the first Asian side to win a Test series in the country

Andrew Fidel Fernando25-Dec-2020

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At face value, do Sri Lanka really have a chance? Let’s look at the facts against them:

• They’ve not played international cricket since March.
• Most squad members have spent three weeks playing T20 cricket, and are now expected to make the substantial switch into Test mode.
• They’ve had no warm-up match due to Covid-19 complications.
• They are missing Angelo Mathews – the most experienced member of their batting order.
• Sri Lanka batsmen have always struggled at Centurion.

And yet, when they won 2-0 in South Africa last year, Sri Lanka had faced even steeper odds, their fast bowling stocks having been decimated by injury, while a captain had just been sacked, and a coach was fearing for his job (which he would lose, several months later). This time, not only do they feel they have a stronger seam attack, but also have a batting group with more experience, and a coach who knows South African conditions intimately, in Mickey Arthur.South Africa, however, are much more fearsome in the Highveld – where both Tests will be played – than they are on the coasts, particularly against South Asian opponents. They also have players in form. Anrich Nortje was rapid in the T20s against England, as well as in the IPL. This was in T20s, but the man is clearly in good rhythm, and the prospects of him hitting high speeds at Centurion will worry some Sri Lanka batsmen. The likes of Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen and Keshav Maharaj are coming off excellent performances in the four-day competition (Markram has 75, 113, 149, 121 in his four most-recent innings), which is leads to another point – they have been playing long-form cricket, where Sri Lanka have not had competitive multi-day matches to play for at least five months.South Africa clearly start as favourites, but as Sri Lanka’s captain Dimuth Karunaratne has asserted, a lot depends on how well each team bats after their long Test hiatus. There have been some seriously low team totals in each of the last four matches between these teams. If that is the case again, Sri Lanka will feel they have a chance.Related

• De Kock wants Test captaincy only as a short-term role

• Hendricks, Petersen withdrawn from SA squad

• Is Markram ready to repay South Africa's faith?

• Sri Lanka's recent dominance over South Africa

• Karunaratne on matching South Africa's seam bowling

Venue record

These teams have played four times at Centurion, and South Africa have won each of those matches, two of them by an innings. The closest Sri Lanka have ever come, was when they lost by just three wickets, way back in 2002. The most-recent Centurion match between these teams was in 2011 – Sri Lanka losing by an innings and 81.

Players to watch

Quinton de Kock will captain South Africa in a Test for the first time, but already, he has said he sees himself only as a caretaker leader. He leads the team in all three formats now, and also keeps wickets in all three. The usual question here: how will captaining over five days impact his batting and his keeping? (His batting has been good of late – his average up at 45.9 since the start of 2019.) And will he lead well? De Kock is generally a cricketer of few words, but this new job may need him to find his voice.Can de Kock juggle with captaincy, batting and keeping?•Getty Images

Kusal Perera played one of the all-time great innings to wrench victory from defeat last year in Durban, but aside from this one blinding knock, there hasn’t been a lot to his Test career. Eighteen Tests in, he has an average of 31.13, which is passable only for an allrounder. And he has batted everywhere from No. 1 to No. 8, without appearing in more than eight innings in any one position. Despite his having produced Sri Lanka’s greatest-ever innings from No. 5 on the last tour here, his team now looks set to ask him to open the innings, to cover for the injured Oshada Fernando. If he is to find a more stable place in the XI, Perera desperately needs to settle into a more consistent phase in his career.

Pitch and conditions

South Africa need to balance creating conditions that will suit their seamers, and making sure it’s not impossible for their batsmen to find form. So it will be green, but not too green, and we can expect pace, bounce and swing but not the kind that saw Sri Lanka crushed at the Wanderers in 2017. SuperSport Park is usually a bat- first pitch; if you can get through the first hour or so, it very good for batting on the most of the first three days. De Kock said he expects it to take some turn later on.It’s been raining a fair bit on the Highveld in the build-up and afternoon thunderstorms are forecast from Sunday. Otherwise, it will be warm with temperatures touching 30.

Team news

It’s Oshada’s hamstring injury that will keep him out of the first Test, and him being unavailable means there may be a spot in the batting order for Dasun Shanaka, who not only brings dynamism to the lower middle order, but also can send down a few overs of serviceable seam bowling.Sri Lanka are wondering whether to go in with an out-and-out spinner in Lasith Embuldeniya, or to hedge their bets and go with Wanindu Hasaranga, who adds value with his batting. There is one other serious injury worry too. Suranga Lakmal picked up a hamstring niggle in the approach to the match, and may need to be replaced, perhaps with Kasun Rajitha.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Dimuth Karunaratne (capt.), 2 Kusal Perera, 3 Kusal Mendis, 4 Dinesh Chandimal, 5 Dhananjaya de Silva, 6 Dasun Shanaka, 7 Niroshan Dickwella (wk), 8 Suranga Lakmal/Kasun Rajitha, 9 Lasith Embuldeniya, 10 Vishwa Fernando, 11 Lahiru KumaraWith Kagiso Rabada out through a groin injury, right-arm seam bowler Glenton Stuurman may get a debut. But that’s only if he gets over a niggle. An injury doubt also hangs over Lungi Ngidi. Lutho Sipamla and Migael Pretorius would seem to be the next in line to play, if Ngidi or Stuurman (or both) aren’t fit in time.South Africa (probable): 1 Aiden Markram, 2 Dean Elgar, 3 Rassie van der Dussen, 4 Faf du Plessis, 5 Temba Bavuma, 6 Quinton de Kock (capt. & wk), 7 Dwaine Pretorius, 8 Anrich Nortje, 9 Keshav Maharaj, 10 Glenton Stuurman, 11 Lungi Ngidi

Stats and trivia

• In the two Tests Perera has played since the last South Africa series – of which he was Player of the Series – he has averaged six and has a top score of 23. Perera, however, has been unavailable for several Sri Lanka Tests through injury.
• On Sri Lanka’s last tour here, de Kock was South Africa’s best batsman, hitting 80, 55, 86 and 1 in his four innings.
• South Africa have only ever lost two of the 25 Tests they’ve played at Centurion – against England in 2000, and Australia in 2014.
• Even overall (counting Tests in Sri Lanka as well), Sri Lanka have a poor win-loss record against South Africa, having won only nine and lost 14 of their 29 Tests.

Quotes

“There is a lot of grass on the surface at the moment, and I think the more there is, the easier it will be for us. When you have less of an up-and-down type pitch, you just have to survive that first couple of hours, and you give yourself a chance to put a decent score – something like 300 – on the board.”Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne“I don’t want to think ahead too much. I’m trying to keep it as basic as possible and as simple as possible. It is something we are aware of, the last time they were here, they did beat us, so its definitely something we want to rectify. Hopefully we can do it by being as simple as possible.”

Vihari and Pujara warmed up for the Tests with fifties, while Daryl Mitchell made his eighth first-class hundred

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Feb-2020

Shubman Gill continued to make a case for selection as a Test opener, scoring another century on day three of the second unofficial Test in Lincoln. It was an excellent day for India’s Test batsmen overall, with Hanuma Vihari (59) and Cheteshwar Pujara (52*) also spending valuable time in the middle as India A went to stumps at 234 for 1 in reply to New Zealand A’s 390 for 9 declared.While New Zealand A were under the pump with the ball, conceding close to four-and-a-half runs per over, they had a good day with the bat, with allrounder Daryl Mitchell keeping himself in contention for the Tests with his eighth first-class century.All of day two had been washed out, and Mitchell was batting on 36 when New Zealand A resumed on 276 for 5. Half-centurion Dane Cleaver fell in the fifth over of the morning, to Sandeep Warrier, before Mitchell found support in Nathan Smith, the seventh-wicket pair adding 57. New Zealand A scored a further 38 runs after Smith’s dismissal, and Mitchell did the bulk of the scoring, with Blair Tickner (4 off 34) and last man Ed Nuttall (4* off 19) holding their end up and enabling him to reach his century. Mitchell was batting on 103 off 222 balls, with 10 fours and a six, when New Zealand A declared.R Ashwin, who had bowled 22 wicketless overs on day one, got in the wickets column by bowling Ish Sodhi and Tickner, and finished with figures of 37.5-4-98-2.India A’s reply was frenetic, with the openers putting on 111 in just 21 overs before Vihari, who hit nine fours in his 73-ball 59, was caught behind off Tickner. That was the only success for New Zealand A in 53 overs, as Gill and Pujara dug in until stumps, putting on an unbroken 123 in 31.5 overs. Gill ended the day batting on 107 off 153 balls, with 13 fours and a six, and Pujara on 52 off 99, with seven fours and a six.With Rohit Sharma injured and out of the Test squad, Gill and Prithvi Shaw are vying for one slot alongside Mayank Agarwal at the top of the order. While Shaw and Agarwal are opening for India in the ongoing ODI series, Gill has struck a rich vein of form for India A, his century in this innings following up scores of 83 and 204* in the first unofficial Test in Christchurch. Going into the final day in Lincoln, Gill has a first-class average of 75.14, with seven hundreds and ten fifties in 21 matches.

Mohammad Amir opens up on his strategy against Australia that fetched him his maiden career ODI five-wicket haul

Danyal Rasool13-Jun-2019Mohammad Amir’s spell against Australia was one of the few bright moments on a day that, for Pakistan fans, proved grey in more ways than one.Under overcast conditions at Taunton, Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed looked especially pleased to have won the toss and put Australia in; Pakistan had left out their ace spinner Shadab Khan specifically for this eventuality. The joy would soon evaporate, however, as Australia put on 146 for the first wicket in 22 overs, looking well on track for a total above 350 on a pitch where the par score was at least 75 runs below that.That they didn’t manage to get there was thanks almost solely to one man, Amir needing to come up with career-best figures – including a first ever five-wicket haul in ODI cricket – to bowl Australia out for 307 in 49 overs. Given the impregnable position they had been in less than two hours earlier, it was an impressive passage of play for Pakistan, and a reminder of why Sarfaraz had opted to bowl first – this was what Pakistan had hoped would transpire for all 50 overs, not just the second half.That Amir would need to fight something of a lone hand was evident in the first five overs, where despite the left-armer having conceded just three runs in his first three, Australia had raced to 27 in the opening 5. Shaheen Afridi, playing in place of Shadab, hadn’t made the selectors look too bright with an opening two overs where he was much too short, far too predictable, and way too inaccurate to complement his colleague at the other end. Perhaps he, or indeed Hasan Ali who followed him, hadn’t figured out the best strategy for the pitch – something Amir said he had sussed out as early as the first over.”As soon as I bowled the first over, I got the idea it wasn’t swinging, it was seaming,” he told the PCB’s official website. “So I was just floating the ball and making sure I put it in the right area instead of putting too much work onto it at the point of release. And the movement it generated came off the seam. It was just a matter of hitting the right areas on this wicket and I did that effectively.”There’s no doubt Australia batted well, but in the first 10-15 overs, we weren’t able to pitch the ball up as consistently as we needed to. I think that might have been the difference between a score of 250-260, and the 300 plus they ended up getting.”The five-wicket haul means Amir is now the leading wicket-taker at the World Cup (10), a remarkable turnaround in form from just a few weeks ago. In the initial squad, named on April 18, Amir had been left out by Pakistan because his ability to strike at the top of the innings had deserted him. Before the first game of the World Cup, he had managed just five ODI wickets in the two years since the end of the 2017 Champions Trophy, and none in the first Powerplay for 17 months – 12 consecutive ODIs. It was his uncanny ability to keep the runscoring down at all stages of an innings, however, that saw him get the nod at the end. At Taunton, he was impressive by both metrics, conceding just thirty runs in ten overs even as Australia ran up a total of 307.Even so, he acknowledged his personal glee was tempered significantly by the 41-run defeat, which leaves Pakistan precious little margin for error if they are to make it to the semi-finals.”It would have been a lot more satiating if we’d won, of course,” Amir admitted. “We have to win every single game now. We can’t lose even one. We have to go into each match with a positive mindset, because pressure exists for every team, not just Pakistan. If we continue to play the positive cricket we played for parts of the Australia game, I’m sure we can win.”

The allrounder limped heavily after the match with his left knee hampering his movement

Melinda Farrell at Trent Bridge31-May-2019West Indies allrounder Andre Russell is confident he will be fit for the side’s second World Cup match against Australia on June 6, despite limping heavily after his match-turning spell in the thumping seven-wicket win over Pakistan.ALSO READ: INTERVIEW – ‘Sometimes the ball goes for six even if I’ve not timed it, because of the work I’ve put in’Russell has a history of knee injuries and bowled just three overs in West Indies’ opening match but his spell was the stunning blow from which Pakistan never recovered. A barrage of short-pitched deliveries earned Russell figures of 2 for 4 and he was not required to bat as his side cruised to victory.But after the match Russell was hobbling gingerly, his left knee clearly hampering his movement. The West Indies medical team now have five days to work on his rehabilitation.”I’ve been playing for years with these knee injuries,” Russell said after the match. “And sometimes it feels worse than some days but, at the end of the day, I’m a professional. I know what to do to get back. I think I have five days before the next game so that is more than enough time to get my knee back to normal and get it settled.”Let’s just see what happens. I have a good physio team, massage team, here so they’re going to be working with me closely for the next couple of days.”This was Russell’s third ODI appearance since the 2015 World Cup. He has mostly bowled in short spells at various T20 competitions around his one-year anti-doping ban and, on the evidence of this match, he will need careful management throughout the tournament. But while he was included in the squad primarily for his batting, Russell desperately wants to contribute as a bowler.”Well that’s the plan,” Russell said. “I want to make sure that my knee is 100 percent or if it’s not 100, 80 percent. I’m still ready to bowl. I’m ready, this is the World Cup. So I don’t mind resting for a month or two months after the World Cup but I want to leave everything here for the World Cup.”There were also concerns when Chris Gayle called for the physio after appearing to injure his back pulling a short ball from Wahab Riaz. He limped initially and held his back, but went onto bring up a 33-ball half-century before falling to Mohammad Amir.”He sent the physio back off the field so that’s a positive sign for us,” captain Jason Holder said. “So again, we’ve got five days. So we’ll see how he goes the next couple of days.”

Rajasthan Royals batsman Jos Buttler believes Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni’s decision to step onto the field to protest an umpiring call was “probably not” the right thing to do in the last over of their match on Thursday night. The incident took place with Super Kings needing eight runs off three balls. Ben Stokes bowled a waist-high full toss to Mitchell Santner, and even though umpire Ulhas Gandhe had signalled a no-ball immediately, square-leg umpire Bruce Oxenford later shook his head to overturn the original decision.That led to lengthy discussions mainly between Santner’s partner Ravindra Jadeja and the umpires before Dhoni, who had been dismissed off the previous ball, walked out to join them. Dhoni was later fined 50% of his match fees for a Code of Conduct breach.”I’m not sure if that’s the right thing to do or not,” Buttler said at the post-match press conference of Dhoni’s decision to walk out on the field. “Obviously the tensions are running high in the IPL and every run counts. Yeah, it was a big moment in the game, but whether stepping onto the pitch is quite right? No, probably not.”Obviously, it’s a bit controversial. The umpires came to a decision but I was at the boundary so I wasn’t quite sure what was going on.”Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming later said that Dhoni took the field only to get clarity since there was confusion about the no-ball decision. He did not say if it was the right thing to do or not.”What wasn’t right was the confusion around the decision. It’s above my paygrade to really get further than that,” Fleming said.”My understanding and discussing it with the captain was we saw a no-ball called, and then there was confusion. Our understanding was that the umpire at the bowler’s end had called the no-ball and then there was confusion around whether it was a no-ball or not. MS was after some clarity and it didn’t seem to be coming. So, he took the opportunity to go out and discuss it with the umpires. That’s how I saw it and that’s how I discussed it with him afterwards.”He only just wanted clarity. The rights and wrongs will be discussed by everybody, including Mahi, I’m sure. But, I think, it’ll be a discussion for the umpires afterwards and I am a watcher as you guys are, for now. But he was certainly fired up about the way the decision was handled and why it was overturned or if it was overturned. So, there was a lack of clarity, obviously, for him and he wanted to get it clarified at a key moment. It’s unusual but he’s usually pretty calculated. It’ll be something he will be questioned about for sure, for a long time.”MS Dhoni is irate at a contentious no-ball call•BCCI

Royals had put on 151 for 7 and had Super Kings in trouble on 24 for 4 in the sixth over before Dhoni and Ambati Rayudu salvaged the chase with a 95-run stand. Both batsmen scored half-centuries and struck two fours and three sixes each to snatch the momentum from Royals.”It is a tough one to take, getting into a winning position and not able to get over the line, the boys will be very disappointed,” Buttler said. “But, I think that’s been the story of our season so far. We have had some games that we should have won and closed out but for a few reasons, we have not been able to do it. We need to get it right, fast.”Royals are now only above winless Royal Challengers Bangalore on the points table with one win from six games.How do they get out of it?”The way out is simple, we have to play better and longer,” Buttler said. “We are just not putting those performances together. We have played well in stages but against quality oppositions and some of the best players in the world, if you can’t do it for the whole 40 overs then it’s tough to win the game.”Fleming, too, admitted the weaknesses in his side, even though they sit on top of the table with six wins from seven games. The two main areas he identified that needed their attention were their fielding and death bowling.”There’s a lot of areas of concern,” Fleming said. “Our top order has been playing on a tough wicket in Chennai so we’ve got to make sure our confidence is high. Being 20-odd for 4, you’re not going to win many games. And [another concern is] just finishing off an innings with our death bowling. It’s hard and most teams are struggling. But if there are two areas we want to get better at, we’re working hard on, is that and we have to work hard on our fielding. We’ve got a number of holes but we know where they are and we’ll try and cover them up as much as we can.”

India’s chief selector said the wicketkeeper-batsman, a ‘champion in the making’, wasn’t part of the Australia ODIs because he needed rest

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Jan-2019Rishabh Pant is “very much” part of India’s World Cup plans and his absence from the ODI squad currently taking on Australia is because he needed rest, according to MSK Prasad, the chairman of selectors.”Rishabh Pant played three T20Is and four Test matches in Australia and that had an impact on his body,” Prasad told PTI. “He needed complete rest for two weeks and then we will take a call on how many matches he will play against England Lions. Let me put it straight, he is very much in our World Cup plans. He is a champion player in the making and even he is not fully aware the kind of potential he has.”The England Lions team will tour India for five one-dayers and two unofficial Tests in January-February, and, as per Prasad, Pant is likely to feature in some of the one-dayers. Prasad also felt his selection committee was vindicated after picking Pant for the Test series in England in August, given his run with the bat and his glove work since then.”Ravi (Shastri) and Virat (Kohli) had advised him to put his head down and respect the match situation, and he did exactly that,” Prasad said, referring to the 21-year-old’s century in the fourth Test in Sydney. “He proved that he can switch gears seamlessly. When we picked him for Tests, experts were sceptical about his keeping but 11 catches in a Test, record dismissals in Australia series proves that selection committee is vindicated.”The latest young player Prasad’s panel has picked is Punjab’s Shubman Gill, who will join the team for their limited-overs tour of New Zealand. Prasad said that Gill had been picked as a reserve opener.”Shubman is comfortable both opening the innings as well as playing in the middle-order. For the New Zealand series, we are looking at him as the reserve opener behind Shikhar (Dhawan) and Rohit (Sharma),” Prasad said. “I won’t comment if he will make it to World Cup but he was phenomenal as an opener for India A in New Zealand.”We have discussed with Rahul (Dravid, the A-team coach) that Shubman is ready for international cricket. The best part is the clutch of A tours which has made all these players battle ready for the biggest challenge. Look at Hanuma Vihari and Mayank Agarwal… they don’t look intimidated when thrown into the deep end of the pool.”Prasad’s panel had rested Jasprit Bumrah from the home Test series against West Indies that preceded the Australia tour, and he held that if Bumrah had played that series, the bowler wouldn’t have managed to play all four Tests in Australia, where he played a leading role in securing a series win for India.”Trust me, had Jasprit played those two Tests against West Indies, he wouldn’t have played all four Tests against Australia,” Prasad said. “The support staff has really monitored him well. He is now fitter and stronger, and with [bowling coach] Bharat Arun continuously working with him, he has improved as a bowler.”But a lot of credit should go to Jasprit because Arun gave him a plan but it was up to him to make the effort to implement the plan. He has really worked hard. When we first picked him, so many were sceptical whether it was prudent to pick a white-ball specialist but at the end of the year, we can all see the results.”

Mossadek Hossain and Abu Jayed have been dropped form the Bangladesh squad, while Sabbir Rahman is still serving a suspension

Mohammad Isam14-Dec-2018Bangladesh have included Mohammad Mithun and Mohammad Saifuddin to their T20I squad for the three-match T20I series against West Indies starting in Sylhet on December 17. Both Mithun and Saifuddin have been part of the ODI squad against Zimbabwe and West Indies.The home side have dropped Mosaddek Hossain and Abu Jayed from their last T20I squad, which was also against West Indies in August this year. Sabbir Rahman was also in Bangladesh’s squad for that series, but now is currently serving a six-month ban for disciplinary issues.Mosaddek has shown some form for Bangladesh Under-23s in the Emerging Teams Asia Cup after an ordinary first-class season. Pace bowler Jayed played the first Test against Zimbabwe in Sylhet, but has been out of favour thereafter.The first T20I will take place in Sylhet, the same venue that the third ODI is being played in, on December 17 before the teams go back to Dhaka for the second and third matches, on December 20 and 22.IN: Mohammad Mithun, Mohammad SaifuddinOUT: Sabbir Rahman, Mosaddek Hossain, Abu JayedSquad: Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Liton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Nazmul Islam, Mohammad Mithun, Mohammad Saifuddin, Abu Hider, Ariful Haque

Shohei Ohtani is one-of-one. Not just because he is the only player in MLB history to have ever hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in one season. Not just because he's the first guy to regularly hit and pitch since Babe Ruth.

He also appears to be a very nice and present player. Earlier this season umpires told us that Ohtani is the only player in baseball who says hello every single time he comes to the plate. On Tuesday night he showed a whole new level of concern for the home plate umpire.

First, Ohtani, coming off an 0-for-10 streak, made sure to clean some rogue dirt off the plate after a pitch in the dirt made a mess of home plate. Then a couple pitches later he fouled a ball off the inside of home plate umpire Alan Porter's knee. Ohtani immediately checked on him.

And then he hit a baseball very far.

Ohtani is now tied with Aaron Judge with 30 home runs, just three behind Cal Raleigh. Judge and Raleigh both still trail Ohtani in kind gestures.

The South Africa fast bowler ended his international career at the age of 29, having played only 11 Tests, by signing a Kolpak deal with Hampshire

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jan-2017Kyle Abbott’s 7 for 29 are the second-best figures in an innings for South Africa on Test debut•Getty Images1. February 2013: Abbott takes 7 for 29 in the first innings against Pakistan in Centurion, and is Player of the Match on Test debut for his nine-wicket haul.He misses the next six Tests South Africa play.2. March 2014: Abbott’s three wickets are the best returns for a South African fast bowler in the Newlands Test against Australia. His workload – 42 overs – is also the heaviest for his team.He misses the next three Tests South Africa play.3. December 2014: Abbott takes 1 for 61 in the match as Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander raze West Indies in Centurion.He misses the next five Tests South Africa play.4. November 2015: Abbott’s fourth Test lasts only a day as rain ruins the match in Bangalore. He bowls six out of 22 overs in India’s first innings, taking 0 for 18.He misses the next Test of the tour of India, in Nagpur.5. December 2015: Abbott takes 5 for 40 in 24.5 overs in India’s first innings in Delhi, and 1 for 47 in 22 in the second.He is picked for South Africa’s next Test.6. December 2015: Abbott bowls 45.4 overs in the Kingsmead Test against England and takes 2 for 128.He misses South Africa’s next two Tests in that series.7. January 2016: Abbott returns figures of 21-9-46-0 in the Centurion Test against England, with Kagiso Radaba emerging as a force with a 13-wicket haul.He misses South Africa’s next three Tests.8. November 2016: Abbott takes 3 for 41 and 6 for 77 in Hobart to bowl South Africa to series victory in Australia.With Steyn injured, Abbott plays South Africa’s next three Tests. It is the first time Abbott is playing successive Tests in a series.9. November 2016: Abbott takes 3 for 49 and 1 for 26 in South Africa’s first day-night Test, at Adelaide Oval.10. December 2016: Abbott claims 3 for 63 and 2 for 38 against Sri Lanka in Port Elizabeth, conceding only 101 runs in 41.5 overs in the match.11. January 2016: Abbott goes wicketless against Sri Lanka after bowling 23 overs in Cape Town.It turns out to be his final Test for South Africa as he confirms he has signed a three-year Kolpak contract with English county Hampshire.

Australia’s back-up fast bowlers are the major winners in the expanded men’s central contract list for the next 12 months with Lance Morris, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson and Sean Abbott all earning deals.Offspinner Todd Murphy has also been offered a contract after his outstanding start to Test cricket in India. Legpsinner Mitchell Swepson is the one active international player to lose his deal alongside the retired Aaron Finch.Perhaps surprisingly, opening batter Marcus Harris has earned a place on the list despite not playing Test cricket since the 2021-22 Ashes while Peter Handscomb and Matt Renshaw, who have both featured this year, have been overlooked.Related

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• Bancroft's case for Test recall could prove hard to ignore

Handscomb impressed on his return to Test cricket in India, especially on the three difficult surfaces in Nagpur, Delhi and Indore.It would now appear that Harris, who was the reserve batter throughout the home summer before being leapfrogged by Renshaw in Sydney when the selectors had an eye on the India tour, has the frontrunning to be included in the Ashes squad and be next in line when a vacancy arise at the top of the order.The questions over David Warner’s form mean that could happen during the team’s time in England. Harris came into the side during the 2019 Ashes as a replacement for Cameron Bancroft but, like Warner, was picked apart by the around-the-wicket line of England’s quicks although in county cricket, where he is about to start another spell with Gloucestershire, he averages 47.62 with six hundreds.”Looking ahead, back in England and another home summer then some Tests in New Zealand, we certainly rate Harry’s ability in those conditions,” national selector George Bailey said. “[He has] a really, good strong record in England as well. One of our criteria when doing the contracts is past performance, but certainly one is an eye to the future as well so perhaps gives an indication of where we hold Harry.”Under the new MoU which was signed earlier this week, the selectors were able to offer up to 24 contracts instead of the previous limit of 20 and all the slots have been used. The group of players has been picked with a specific focus on Test and ODI cricket with the upcoming World Test Championship final and Ashes followed by the World Cup in India.Marcus Harris now appears to be at the front of the queue for an Ashes tour spot•Getty Images

“We have chosen a group of players we expect will form the majority of those two campaigns and we know that we will need a squad mentality to achieve success,” Bailey said. “As we find each year now, there is a lot of cricket in the next six to 12 months and our depth will be tested. The six Test matches during the winter are in relatively short succession and we have a busy period of white-ball cricket leading up to, and post, the ODI World Cup.”Alongside the regular Test fast-bowling attack – Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Scott Boland and, if fit, Josh Hazlewood – Australia will likely need to make use of the depth on offer during the England tour.Morris, the Western Australia quick, has been around the squad since the past home season without yet making his debut. Neser played the Adelaide Test against West Indies and could be an ideal fit for conditions in England.Richardson, who was dropped from last year’s list, is currently recovering from another hamstring injury but remains highly regarded by the selectors and may come into plans for the ODI World Cup, as could Abbott who earned an upgrade to a contract during the previous season having played enough matches.”We’ve been very fortunate in the longevity and robustness of our best fast bowlers and for the most part they’ve played multiple formats as well,” Bailey said. “Clearly we’ve seen over the last 12 months, and we expect going forward, through nothing else than the sheer weight of cricket, that we needed a squad of fast bowlers.”We need to ensure we have a clear pathway and a bit of succession plan as well. Offering contracts to some players gives us the opportunity to sit down and have a really strong conversation around what the next 12 months will look like for them.”Players not awarded contracts as part of the initial squad of 24 can earn upgrades throughout the year by accruing 12 upgrade points. Players receive five points for a Test match, two for an ODI and two for a T20I.Cummins will remain Australia’s highest paid cricketer with earnings up to AU$3million for the year when captaincy bonuses are factored in. The average contract is worth AU$951,000 under the new MoU.Australia men’s contracts Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa