All posts by csb10.top

Left-arm spinner Aaron Phangiso scythed through Afghanistan A’s top-order with 3 for 39 in 10 overs to set up South Africa A’s dominant seven-wicket win, with 80 balls to spare, in the sixth and final round-robin match of the triangular series in Pretoria. After taking out Ihsanullah and Younas Ahmadzai early in their innings, Phangiso snuffed out Usman Ghani, the opener, who had laid a decent platform through a 61-ball half-century. With not much of note to follow from the rest of the order, Afghanistan limped to 202 for 9 in 50 overs.They were then razed early in the chase by Henry Davids and Reeza Hendricks, the openers, who put together 88 in 13.3 overs. South Africa did not look back from there, running down the target in 36.4 overs, Khaya Zondo, their captain, and Farhaan Behardien finishing it off with unbeaten thirties.Phangiso broke through for South Africa by pinging the pad of Ihsanullah, who had played second fiddle to Ghani in an opening stand of 45 to which he contributed just 14. Ahmadzai was cleaned up in the bowler’s next over, after which Rahmat Shah tried to steady Afghanistan with a 41-run third-wicket stand. It ended when Ghani was caught by Dwaine Pretorius for 54 in his attempt to clear long-off.South Africa kept chipping away thereafter, never allowing a partnership to flourish. By the time Rahmat was dismissed, for 32, Afghanistan had lost half their side with 131 on the board. Najibullah Zadran launched Phangiso for a couple of sixes in the 43rd over, but a run out in the next over made sure the burst was a short-lived one. He had made 28 off 32 balls with the help of two sixes. Yamin Ahmadzai hauled Afghanistan past 200 with an unbeaten 14, but it ended being a scant total.Each of the five bowlers used by South Africa contributed to the wickets column. Phangiso’s three were complemented by Junior Dala’s 2 for 42, while Dane Paterson, Pretorius and Tabraiz Shamsi took a wicket each.Davids was the early aggressor for South Africa, racing to 25 off 23 balls, before Hendricks joined in with a six and a four off Ahmadzai in the seventh over. Another six off the same bowler by him brought up South Africa’s fifty in the ninth over.By the time Davids was dismissed for 41 by Najibullah Zadran, Hendricks had overtaken him. He went on to make 76 at a run a ball. Rahmat Shah ended his stay by bowling him just after the halfway mark, but then South Africa needed just 58 more, which Zondo and Behardien knocked off with an unbroken fourth-wicket stand.

The stubborn resistance of the BCCI’s old guard towards the implementation of the Lodha Committee’s recommendations may have swayed the board’s member units into buying more time at the special general meeting on Monday. A number of state association officials told ESPNcricinfo that the board was forced to form a committee to revisit some of the recommendations, as the majority of the members did not want to be rushed into implementing the reforms. Many officials, led by veteran administrators like N Srinivasan and Niranjan Shah, reportedly felt that some of the concerns identified during the October 1 SGM haven’t been addressed.In the lead-up to the SGM on Monday, the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) had repeatedly urged the state associations to narrow down their objections to the Lodha recommendations to a point or two. The CoA had hinted that there was a good chance that recommendations like ‘one-state, one-vote’ and the restriction on the number of selectors might be overturned. The committee, however, had indicated that the court was unlikely to change governance-related clauses, such as the age-cap of 70 years or the tenure-cap of nine years.According to a state association head from the west zone, a majority of the member units were in agreement with the CoA’s suggestion on the eve of the SGM, and wanted to adopt the recommendations. After the CoA’s meeting with the state associations, the BCCI authorised Abhay Apte, the Maharashtra Cricket Association president and a member of the board’s legal committee, and Vinay Mrutyunjaya, the spokesperson of the Karnataka State Cricket Association, to prepare a working paper on the recommendations for discussion at the SGM.However, by Monday morning, the mood had changed dramatically. “Everybody that had remained united started fizzling out by the morning,” he said. “Many member units wanted to go ahead and ensure we could move forward, but by the time the meeting started it became clear that there was no way implementation was going to happen.”It is understood that Srinivasan insisted that the objections raised in October should stand. In that meeting, the BCCI had “unanimously” adopted some resolutions while leaving out key ones like the age cap of 70 years, the tenure cap of nine years with cooling-off periods in between, and the one-state-one-vote policy, among others. “The argument was that we should not agree to anymore more than what we had already conceded,” the official said.With Srinivasan and Shah coming together – they had fallen out during Shashank Manohar’s time in charge – there was reportedly a stronger voice against implementation. Srinivasan and Shah, incidentally, are disqualified under the Lodha recommendations on a few counts, including being over 70 years of age. There were also whispers that a couple of former BCCI office-bearers were strongly exhorting state units to resist the implementation of the reforms.Attending the board’s SGM on Monday N Srinivasan was one of the stronger voices against the implementation of the Lodha Committee reforms•PTI

“Srinivasan was very clear in his opinion. Why should only we shortlist a few points of objection? By removing one point we are hurting some member or the other,” another official said. “He felt we shouldn’t budge from any of our objections on October 1. And, 19 members have filed an affidavit, so no member can go back on it. It is unethical to take it back.”A south zone official claimed that Srinivasan had asked the members to not do anything that would hurt the contributions of former board president and secretary Anurag Thakur and Ajay Shirke, who were removed by the Supreme Court. “Also, there is nothing in writing from the CoA that if we agree to adopt the recommendations, the court will agree to the one or two changes [to the court order],” the official said.All the three officials agreed that the formation of the Rajiv Shukla-led committee gave the state units enough breathing space before the next course of action could be firmed up. The south zone official said he wasn’t hopeful of the report being tabled by July 10. “The committee will have to speak with all the member units,” he said. “It might not be easy to arrive at a solution by then. We will wait for the dispensation of the honourable Supreme Court on July 14.”The west zone official, however, conceded that he was uncertain of how the court hearing would pan out. “I don’t know what the court is going to do,” he said. “That is what I mentioned in the SGM – look at the public perception. They see us as a cosy club. Look at the court – they will look at us and feel we are antagonising everyone. Remember, our actions should not send the message that we are very arrogant and adamant. “

Scorecard Keaton Jennings drives through the off side•Getty Images

Mark Stoneman and Keaton Jennings made their respective cases to partner Alastair Cook in the upcoming Test series against South Africa, but Haseeb Hameed went run-less for the Lions on the first day of their unofficial Test against South Africa A. Stoneman and Jennings scored half-centuries each on the hottest June day for 41 years in the UK. South Africa A’s attack certainly felt the heat.On a fairly placid surface, they were made to toil and had their fielders to thank for all but two of the scalps they collected.Hameed was the first to fall. After facing 11 balls without scoring, his eyes lit up at a wide half-volley from Duanne Olivier but Hameed did not get hold of it and skied to Aiden Markram. It was not the kind of shot Hameed would have wanted England selectors James Whitaker and Mick Newell to see but they were at the St Lawrence Ground, keeping an eye on performances ahead of next week’s Lions’ game against the senior South Africans.They were treated to a 105-run second-wicket stand between Stoneman and Jennings, in which runs came fairly easily. Though Olivier and his new-ball partner Beuran Hendricks’ lines remained testing, Junior Dale and Dane Piedt were looser. Stoneman and Jennings were authoritative in their shot-selection and boundaries came down the ground for both batsman. Stoneman’s fifty came first, off 94 balls, and he looked well set to keep going but a moment of Temba Bavuma magic in the field stopped him.Stationed at point, Bavuma flung himself at a Stoneman cut to give Hendricks some reward and South Africa A created a small opening. Jennings threatened to shut it firmly when he took on Piedt and brought up his fifty off 106 balls – with 36 runs in boundaries – but Piedt struck back when he bowled Nick Gubbins. Jennings quietened and five overs later cut to gully to give South Africa A their most prized wicket.The Lions lost 3 for 27 and matters seemed evenly poised halfway through the day but Ben Foakes almost single-handedly changed that. He put on 64 runs for the fifth wicket with Dan Lawrence, who hooked to deep square, and 48 for the sixth with Sam Curran, who should have been run out on five but Kuhn’s throw missed. Instead he was eventually lbw to Theuis de Bruyn for 18.Curran’s late wicket gave South Africa A an energy they lacked, especially as the ball grew old, the sun beat harder and the pitch seemed to become easier to bat on but they did not enjoy any more success until they took the second new ball. Four overs before the close of play, Hendricks returned to have Overton caught behind and bring South Africa A back onto a fairly even keel.Perhaps more notable were the 17 no-balls the South Africa A attack sent down, most of them from the Nackington Road End where the seamers struggled to adjust to the slope.As much as England are using this match to aid their decisions on their Test squad, so are South Africa. Olivier will compete with the likes of Morne Morkel, Chris Morris and Wayne Parnell – who are all in the T20 squad – for a paceman’s place. The A tour has not done much for Olivier’s case so far but his form in South Africa, where he topped the first-class wicket-charts, may not have faded from memory. In the batting department, all eyes will be on Kuhn and Markram, who are competing for a spot in the Test opener’s role should Stephen Cook lose out, while Bavuma will also be keen to impress.

Friday is the deadline for interested parties to apply to coach the South African national team. Despite incumbent Russell Domingo’s claim that there is “no clarity” in the situation, CSA have advertised the post on their website. A five-person panel including Gary Kirsten and Eric Simons will recommend a suitable candidate to take over until the 2019 World Cup.That means if Domingo is interested in continuing in the job, he has two days to make that known. On Sunday, after South Africa crashed out of the Champions Trophy, Domingo said he had “not yet” put his name in the hat and could not say if he would like to take the team to another major tournament.Domingo’s contract expires at the end of the current tour to England which could make the four-Test series his last in charge of South Africa. After a strong 2016-17 summer, in which the team won eight trophies, they lost the ODI series in England and had a poor Champions Trophy campaign. A T20 rubber and Tests follow.Domingo has been in charge since mid-2013 and has had his contract extended three times. While there is no indication of who might take over, Lions coach Geoffrey Toyana is thought to be the front runner.

ScorecardMitch Claydon earned Kent a big lead•Getty Images

Joe Denly’s second half-century of the game and a four-wicket blast by Mitch Claydon extended Kent’s advantage over Gloucestershire by stumps on day two of the Specsavers County Championship match in Canterbury.After hitting 62 in Kent’s first innings, Denly followed with an equally vital 59 as Kent reached 118 for 4 for an emphatic overall lead of 267 going into the third day of the match.Batting for a second time by Saturday’s final session and having banked a 149-run lead, Kent suffered an early blow when Daniel Bell-Drummond prodded indeterminately at one from Liam Norwell to be caught at third slip with only three on the board.Kent’s second-wicket pairing of Denly and Joe Weatherley set out their stall to bat time for an hour, content to knock the shine off the new ball in the face of a testing examination from the likes of David Payne, Chris Liddle, Craig Miles and Norwell.With the hard work seemingly done Weatherley, on 34, wastefully chased a wide one from Norwell to edge to the keeper, but Denly dug deeper to post a second successive half-century off 92 balls and with eight fours.Denly lost his skipper Sam Northeast for 8 – off balance and aiming to leg he departed lbw to Miles – then just before stumps he threw the sink at one from Miles to snick to a jubilant Phil Mustard.Earlier, Kent mopped up seven mid-session Gloucestershire wickets for 60 runs to skittle the visitors for 149 by tea for exactly half their first-day total.Only Chris Dent’s battling three-hour innings of 67 saved the visitors from total ignominy as Claydon bagged 4 for 35 and James Harris 3 for 42 as Gloucestershire succumbed inside 60 overs.Dent, the 26-year-old Bristolian opener, laid anchor for 145 balls and fared better than most the face of some hostile, short pitched bowling from the Kent trio of Harris, Matt Coles and Claydon to take his side into the lunch break on 89 for 3.Buoyed by the break, Claydon bowled with continued pace and hostility after the resumption and was rewarded four wickets as Gloucestershire lost five wickets for 11 runs in the space of 61 deliveries.Only 15 balls after the resumption Graeme van Buuren (10) sparred off the back foot only to edge to be caught by the juggling James Tredwell at second slip, then George Hankins played over a leg stump yorker to make it 106 for 5.Six overs later, Claydon struck again to end Dent’s stoic innings. Prodding half forward the left-hander dragged the ball onto his leg stump, and, without addition to the total, Mustard edged one from Stevens low to third slip and Jack Taylor departed after feathering an airy drive to slip.David Payne and Miles added 22 runs on the counter attack before Miles nibbled one into the cordon off Harris, who then had last man Liddle caught behind via an inside edge and deflection off his front pad to end the innings and force an early tea.At the start of second day Kent struck in the third over when Harris, the on-loan seamer from Middlesex, removed night watchman Norwell lbw for 13.Fourth-wicket pairing Will Tavare and Dent rode their luck, playing and missing and surviving concerted lbw shouts against Darren Stevens and Harris, yet both stood firm to post a 50 stand by the 31st over.The partnership added 71 in 26.5 overs before Will Gidman struck in his only over of the day and moments before lunch, bowling Tavare off his pads as the right-hander aimed to work to leg.

West Indies coach Stuart Law was left ruing missed opportunities as West Indies slipped to a 3-0 series defeat against England.But while West Indies lost the final game by a crushing 186-run margin, Law felt his side could take inspiration from the way in which their opponents have improved their limited-overs cricket over the last couple of years.In particular, the new West Indies coach felt his side should look at England’s poor performance at the 2015 World Cup – a tournament in which they were knocked out in the group stages – and be encouraged by how quickly they had progressed.”Two years ago at the World Cup, England were in a pretty big hole,” Law said after Thursday’s game. “But they’ve gone back, changed the way they play, the way they’ve approached every game and it has started to work for them.”It’s an amazing transformation in two years. I’m hoping in two years’ time we can sit down and say something’s happening to revive West Indies cricket, something to get us competitive against these bigger teams.”If West Indies are to improve their results, they will have start taking their catches. Just as they gave Eoin Morgan a reprieve before he made a century in Antigua, they allowed Joe Root two lives on his way to a century in Barbados. Dropped on one and 12, Root went on to provide a match-defining 192-run partnership with Alex Hales.”The good thing about our bowling performance is we are creating opportunities,” Law said. “But we’re just not accepting them. In the first game, we put down a player of Eoin Morgan’s class and he punished us with a hundred. We’ve done the same today with Joe Root.”So those are valuable lessons we must take on board and learn to accept it’s an area we need to improve. There’s no substitute for hard work. We’ve got to make sure that when those opportunities come again we do grab them.”Still, Law was encouraged by the talent in his squad.”The first glimpse of what I’ve got to work with and there are some very encouraging signs,” he said. “I thought we bowled particularly well throughout the series. Today probably wasn’t our best, but the first two were good.”With the batting, we had guys getting starts but no one going on to get big scores. That’s the area we need to improve. I’m not pleased with the result but very, very happy to see some guys who have actually got something to give out there and want to be there to do it.”

The Caribbean Premier League is in the process of making plans to play another round of matches at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida for the 2017 season. A Broward County Parks official has told ESPNcricinfo that CPL officials have requested two sets of week-long time frames to be blocked off for possible use by the CPL in the month of August.The CPL made its Florida debut in 2016, playing six matches to end the league phase from July 28 to 31. The games were the first revenue-generating cricket to come to the Lauderhill ground in four years, sparking renewed interest in utilising the venue as India and West Indies played a pair of T20Is there just one month later. Though the hurricane season in Florida runs from July through November, not a single over was lost across the four days of play, with the only interruption being a 50-minute lightning delay that pushed back the start of the final match of the weekend, between St Lucia Zouks and Jamaica Tallawahs.Tropical weather did make an appearance four weeks later though in August when India played West Indies at the same venue. The first match between the two sides finished without any problems but the second ended with no result after a brief thunderstorm exposed poor drainage at the facility.CPL organizers have been bullish about bringing more games to the USA, with talks of holding games at other venues outside of Florida. However, the Central Broward Regional Park remains the only ICC-certified ODI- and T20I-approved facility in the country.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:38

McGlashan: NZ batting beginning to look a little flaky

AB de Villiers had called on his batsmen to take responsibility for an innings and he showed the way in Wellington as South Africa surged to a crushing 159-run victory. De Villiers’ controlled 85, during which he became the fastest player to 9000 ODI runs, turned the tables after a middle-order slide, then the pace bowlers combined with unnerving accuracy to dismantle New Zealand for 112 in the 33rd over.

Another Latham duck

6 Number of lower scores at home for New Zealand than the 112 they made against South Africa. This was also New Zealand’s lowest score against South Africa in ODIs. The previous lowest was 134 at Newlands in 1994.
3 Ducks scored by Tom Latham in his last four innings. Latham has scored 13 runs in this period.
5 Consecutive fifties for Quinton de Kock in ODIs. He equaled the record for most consecutive fifties for South Africa joining Jonty Rhodes. The overall record for most consecutive fifties is held by Javed Miandad who made nine such scores in 1987.

On a slower-than-normal pitch that offered assistance for seamers, especially in the evening, South Africa’s 271 for 8 – bolstered by a seventh-wicket stand of 84 in 10.4 overs between de Villiers and Wayne Parnell – had the makings of a demanding chase and it soon proved that way.Kagiso Rabada, back in the side after missing Christchurch, set the tone with an exemplary new-ball spell. He was followed by Andile Phehlukwayo and Dwaine Pretorius who removed the cream of New Zealand’s batting by nabbing Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor in the space of five deliveries. The pair bowled nine overs between them in their first spells, returning figures of 4 for 16, in the sort of seam-friendly conditions that could be on show in the Champions Trophy. Pretorius finished with 3 for 5 from 5.2 overs.New Zealand had entered this match buoyed by their batting performance at Hagley Oval, but this display will raise a few concerns as they fell in a heap in a manner not often seen. Tom Latham collected his third duck in four ODI innings and there was another failure for Neil Broom.They had made one change, replacing legspinner Ish Sodhi with the pace of Lockie Ferguson and may ponder if that was correct after he went for 71 in his 10 overs – the most expensive bowling performance of the day.Quinton de Kock, with his fifth 50-plus ODI score in a row, and Faf du Plessis led South Africa to 114 for 1 in the 23rd over but then followed a collapse of 5 for 66. Colin de Grandhomme gave New Zealand the control they strived for, claiming two wickets in four deliveries and bowling his 10 overs straight through, while Mitchell Santner produced another impressive performance of left-arm spin.De Grandhomme removed du Plessis who riffled a drive low to mid-off, then in what is becoming a habit on this tour, de Kock picked out the leg-side field having set himself for a century. He hung his head and could barely drag himself off.De Villiers was greeted by a hostile delivery from Ferguson which rammed into his gloves but quickly ticked off the five runs he needed to jump past Sourav Ganguly to top the 9000 list. However, senior batsmen came and went. JP Duminy, who had struggled for fluency, was run out by a direct hit from Tim Southee at backward point and David Miller chipped a low catch to midwicket which was upheld by the third umpire.AB de Villiers scored his 51st ODI half-century•AFP

In each of the three matches in this series, someone from the lower order has stepped forward for South Africa. It wasn’t Pretorius this time – he was bowled by Ferguson – but Parnell helped de Villiers stop New Zealand in their tracks.De Villiers had been above a run-a-ball early in his innings, but bided his time as he lost partners for the closing overs. Back-to-back boundaries off Ferguson, rasping shots through midwicket and cover, hustled him through the 40s and the half-century came from 59 deliveries. He went from 39 off 51 balls to 85 off 80; it was not one of de Villiers’ more explosive innings, but it was a masterclass in repairing damage, judging conditions and not overreaching.And his efforts were soon put into context. Latham middled a square drive but picked out point. Dean Brownlie then feathered to the keeper off Rabada who found considered seam movement and proceeded to work over Williamson.Williamson was dropped at slip on 4 by Hashim Amla off Parnell and alongside Taylor weathered the new balls for a period although scoring was always hard work and the pressure did not relent.Phehlukwayo had conceded just four runs into his third over when Williamson, trying to dab the ball to third man, played into his stumps and in the next over, Taylor fell across a full, straight delivery from Pretorius. He was not far off walking for the lbw decision. The stuffing had been knocked out of New Zealand’s innings and there was precious little else on offer. Broom’s poke outside off against Phehlukwayo was a poor shot and Pretorius’ miserly spell, as he nipped the ball around off the seam under the lights, also accounted for Mitchell Santner.New Zealand’s total was their lowest completed innings at home since being bowled out for 73 by Sri Lanka, in Auckland in 2007, and the result their heaviest runs defeat to South Africa.

Eoin Morgan, England’s one-day captain, says that his family were “very offended” by the criticism that he received after withdrawing from the tour of Bangladesh on security grounds last year, but has expressed his excitement at returning to national colours with a heavy diet of white-ball cricket in the build-up to the Champions Trophy in June.Morgan, 30, has not played for England since the visit of Pakistan in September last year, after he and Alex Hales chose not to travel to Bangladesh for a three-match ODI series in October, following terror attacks in the country earlier in the year.Although Andrew Strauss, the managing director of England cricket, had assured the players that there would be “no consequences” for missing the tour, there was a considerable backlash in the English media over Morgan’s failure to lead his side from the front, especially in light of the unprecedented levels of security granted to the team.Morgan, however, maintained that he didn’t regret the decision, insisting that he had been unaffected by the furore even if his family were less comfortable with the backlash.”My way of dealing with it was to get away from things, which I did,” he told BBC Radio. “My family saw a lot of it and were very offended, but that is part and parcel of being in the limelight.”As a decision, I am very comfortable with [it] and it’s a decision I considered all consequences when I did, and sitting here or sitting at home, wherever I would have been sitting, I’d have been very comfortable with it.”Eoin Morgan found his form for Sydney Thunder in the BBL last week•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

In Morgan’s absence, Jos Buttler led England to a hard-fought 2-1 series win, and the regular skipper was full of praise for the manner in which his stand-in had stepped into the breach.”I think he [Buttler] really enjoyed the leadership role within the group,” Morgan said during his earlier press conference. “The proof was in the performances. I thought he was outstanding [in] the way senior players reacted, Ben Stokes in particular. In the first game when Ben played a screamer on a wicket that wasn’t that easy for us to come on and start the series. The younger guys reacted well and the senior guys led the way.”While Morgan believes, with some justification, that his success in leading England’s revival in white-ball cricket has earned him some leeway with the selectors, his absence in Bangladesh not only came at the end of a year in which he averaged less than 30 in 25 matches across all formats, it offered an opportunity for other candidates to stake a claim to a middle-order berth.In particular, Jonny Bairstow and Sam Billings can expect a fair hearing ahead of the Champions Trophy, while Ben Duckett, who scored two fifties in Bangladesh, was deemed by coach Trevor Bayliss to have been “desperately unlucky” to miss out on the limited-overs tour to India.”We’ve a couple of series in the next five-six months which is going to be a big part in our lead up towards the [Champions Trophy],” he said. “It is exciting that we’ve only white-ball cricket between now and then. The major part of that is getting some cricket under my belt in the run into the series, which I’ve managed to do. I am really excited, and everybody within the group is as excited as I am.”If there were any doubts about Morgan’s current form and focus, then his sign-off performance for Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League last week was a good indicator. His final innings before departing for India was an unbeaten 50-ball 71 that culminated in a match-winning last-ball six. Despite that, however, he knows not to take his England place for granted.”Nothing is a certainty. Absolutely nothing,” he said. “I’d like to think that things have gone pretty well for us, and over a small period of time we have had a little bit of success, like I have added. But, again we have a fantastic group of players – very talented, very driven and they want to do well.Right up there in the “little bit of success” were England’s series wins against Pakistan and Bangladesh. After England had made 444 against Pakistan in Trent Bridge, Hales said he had to pinch himself in disbelief. Morgan believed England’s mindset had remained positive in the past as well, but their recent consistency had caught even him by surprise.”I think before we played a game together as a group, which was just under two years ago now, there’s always that nerves and anticipation about what’s to come,” he said. “I think the general mindset and attitude in which we went about our business was the right way, but the skill level doesn’t always deliver behind that. I’ve been surprised that the level of skill and consistency we’ve shown between now and then… I think it is impressive.”Everybody within the group, and how well we’ve grown and learnt in that time, has been accelerated by the bit of success. Obviously, playing abroad is different challenge, a challenge which everybody is looking forward to. India is a great place to come and win the series. It means that much more because they are very, very good at home.”The scars of the drubbing in the Test series, he felt, wouldn’t have a bearing on this team. “I think they are very motivated individually. Regardless of which format has been played first, the side has generally improved as the tour has gone on. Since the side has been together, there has been no backlash or repercussions from any performance earlier in the tour. I don’t expect it to have any effect.”

Australia’s wicketkeeper Matthew Wade is expected to take no further part in the third day’s play against Pakistan in Sydney after returning to the team hotel due to illness.Rain delayed the start of play until 2.35pm and Wade took the field with the team when play finally began, but he was able to keep wicket for only two overs before he left the SCG.”Matthew felt ill this morning and has had nausea and diarrhoea,” Australia’s team doctor Peter Brukner said. “He’s received medication for his symptoms but is still feeling unwell. After taking the field he realised he was not well enough to continue, hence his decision to come off. He’s returning to the hotel to rest and will hopefully recover by tomorrow morning. We will monitor his condition.”Wade was replaced behind the stumps by Peter Handscomb, who has kept wickets in nearly 50 matches across first-class, List A and Twenty20 matches. Although he rarely keeps in Sheffield Shield matches these days, Handscomb performed the role in four Matador Cup games this summer and is expecting to do so in the BBL this month as well.”The gloves stay in the bag and the pads only come out for a bit of bat-pad work,” Handscomb said when asked about his wicketkeeping in the lead-up to this Test. “When I’m not keeping it’s pretty much full-time batting and fielding, because I need to be able to catch like a fielder.”Then as soon as I go back to Big Bash and put the gloves on I’ll do some work there and make sure that my skills are up to date … I think I’d be able to do it as a last call if no one else was around. I can chuck the gloves on, that would be fine.”