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Tasmania took firm control against Western Australia at the WACA, bowling them out for 160 courtesy a six-wicket haul from Luke Butterworth

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Feb-2011
ScorecardTasmania took firm control of their Sheffield Shield encounter against Western Australia at the WACA in Perth on day one, bowling them out for 160 courtesy a six-wicket haul from Luke Butterworth, before ending the day on 79 for no loss.Being made to field by Marcus North, Tasmania made early inroads as Butterworth picked up two wickets in the sixth over to leave Western Australia at 2 for 10. The hosts never recovered, losing wickets in rapid succession. A 35-run stand for the ninth wicket was the best partnership they could manage in the innings. Butterworth’s 6 for 51 is his best effort in first-class cricket. He’s the leading wicket-taker in the competition.Tasmania’s openers Nick Kruger and Ed Cowan got their side off to a solid start, remaining not out at stumps. Just the start to the match Tasmania were looking for, as an outright win here should guarantee them a spot in the final.

New South Wales survived a massive scare in the form of Trinidadian Kieron Pollard to post their first win in the 2010-11 Big Bash, over South Australia in Adelaide

The Bulletin by Alex Malcolm04-Jan-2011ScorecardDavid Warner had to go against his natural instinct but his steady 73 may have been the difference between the two sides•Getty Images

New South Wales survived a massive scare in the form of Trinidadian Kieron Pollard to post their first win in the 2010-11 Big Bash, over South Australia in Adelaide. The Blues had the game on ice when the Redbacks slumped to 6 for 53 in pursuit of their target of 169.Left-arm spinner Steve O’Keefe ripped through the hosts top order claiming 3 for 4 in his first two overs after captain Stuart Clark called on him in the fourth over because Doug Bollinger’s fist over had gone for 17.Pollard and Aaron O’Brien were left to salvage a sinking Redbacks ship, needing 115 from 66 deliveries with just four wickets in hand. Pollard began a typical pyrotechnics display, the kind of which has made him a Twenty20 gun for hire around the world. In the 12th over he ruined O’Keefe’s figures with two massive blows, one was miscued straight down the ground, the other caught in the crowd at long-off, beyond the longest boundary in Australia.When O’Brien was stumped from a wide two overs later, the last rites were expected to be delivered but Pollard launched a savage assault on allrounder Moises Henriques. The over cost 29, the West Indian responsible for 23 of them, reaching 50 in 22 balls and pulling the equation back to just 38 off 30.Henriques had the last laugh though. With Pollard looking to climb over long-on in the next over, he leapt high to claim an extraordinary catch, reminiscent of John Dyson, as Pollard fell metres short of his sixth six. Henriques also claimed the winning catch in Nathan Hauritz’s next over to seal the Blues win.Earlier NSW set a competitive total of 5 for 168 after winning the toss. The innings was anchored by an unusually subdued David Warner who made 73 not out from 58 balls with just one six and seven fours.He wrestled with his timing throughout and played second fiddle to his opening partner Daniel Smith who clubbed 45 at the top. NSW lost quick wickets in the middle as spinners O’Brien and debutant Nathan Lion tied things down but Warner’s effort to go against instinct and hang tough might have proved the difference in the end.

A round-up of the first day of the third-round matches of Division Two of the Quaid-E-Azam Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Nov-2010Left-arm spinner Yasim Murtaza and left-arm seamer Saad Altaf gave Pakistan Television the upper hand against Karachi Whites at the National Stadium in Karachi. The pair bagged nine wickets between them, Murtaza bagging his second five-for, as Karachi folded for 307. The hosts will be disappointed for going on to score something substantial, as three of their batsmen went past a half-century but none was able to convert it to three-figures. Opener and captain Khalid Latif made 91, Asif Zakar chipped in with 65 and supported Latif in a 122-run second-wicket stand while Asim Kamal, who has represented Pakistan, made 80. Karachi were going strong at 249 for 4 but lost their last six wickets for 58 as Murtaza and Altaf turned the tables. In reply, Pakistan Television were 4 without loss.The first day of the third-round contest between Hyderabad and State Bank of Pakistan at the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad harkened back to the days of first-class cricket in the 1980s and 1990s. Only 179 runs were scored by Hyderabad in 84 overs, and just two wickets lost. Opener Azeem Ghumman, who led Pakistan in the Under-19 World Cup earlier this year, batted out the day for an unbeaten 73. He helped his team recover from an early loss, adding 86 with Aqeel Anjum and a further, unbeaten 79 with Rizwan Ahmed who is going strong with 48.Table-toppers Abbottabad, who have two wins from two games, put themselves in control against Lahore Ravi at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Opener Waqar Orakzai, playing his sixth first-class game, scored his maiden century and remained unbeaten to guide his team to 227 for 1 at stumps. Orazkai, who struck 13 fours, was assisted in an 81-run opening stand by Ghulam Mohammad, and Zia-ul-Haq batted patiently, consuming 193 balls for his unbeaten 48.Half-centuries from Hamza Paracha and Usman Salahuddin ensured the first day at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground went Lahore Shalimar‘s way in their contest against bottom-placed Quetta. Opener Paracha top-scored with 85, supported by handy contributions from everyone else who followed. His opening partner Mohammad Hamza made 31 in a 60-run stand, Rana Adan helped add a further 48 while Salahuddin, who finished the day on 65 not out, took the total to 238 for 3 at stumps.A collective bowling effort from Khan Research Laboratories helped them bowl Peshawar out for 242 at the Sports Complex in Mardan. Nazir grabbed four wickets while each of the other bowlers took at least a wicket to strike at regular intervals. There was resistance from No.3 batsman Mohammad Fayyaz, who made 49, and chiefly from Sajjad Ahmed who top-scored with 65. At 112 for 6, though, it seemed Peshawar would fold for a score less than 200 but Riaz Afridi, with 44, helped them go past that mark. In a first-class game, KRL also bowled 23 wides, part of an extras tally of 36. In response, KRL lost an early wicket, Saeed Anwar jnr trapped in front by Afridi for zero.

Dale Richards, the Barbados opener, has said he will be under no pressure when he faces the new ball in the third Test against South Africa at Bridgetown

Cricinfo staff25-Jun-2010Dale Richards, the 33-year-old opener from Barbados, has said he has “nothing to lose” and will be under no pressure when he faces the new ball in the third Test against South Africa at Bridgetown, beginning on June 26.Richards is one of only two openers in West Indies’ 13-man squad and is certain to play his third Test – his first against top-flight opposition. Richards’ first two Test opportunities were against Bangladesh in 2009, when several first-choice players went on strike.”I only have two Test matches under my belt but at the end of the day, at 33 years old, there is nothing to lose. It’s just about getting out there and doing my bits,” Richards said. “A lot of people write off a lot of guys at 30 but I think when you get to that age, you understand batting more. I don’t go in the game with any sort of pressure.”Richards was included in the squad at the expense of Guyana opener Travis Dowlin, who scored only 4, 1 and 10 in three innings during the first two Tests. Richards had played a part in the ODI series against South Africa and scored 157 runs at an average of 39.25, with two half-centuries in four innings.”In the Digicel one-day series I backed myself and batted positively,” Richards said. “This is Test cricket so I need to spend some time at the top of the order along with Chris [Gayle], but I think we should come out and play some very positive cricket. Some positive cricket will really help the people in the Caribbean.”West Indies trail 0-1 in the three-Test series and the Barbados contest is their final opportunity to salvage a win in the home series against the South Africans. Gayle’s men lost the Twenty20 series 0-2, the ODIs 0-5 and drew the second Test after losing the first by 163 runs.

A review of the fourth round of games in the 2009-10 Plunket Shield

Cricinfo staff06-Dec-2009Central Districts beat Canterbury with a day to spare to get their first success of the Plunket Shield in Rangiora. Having enforced the follow-on, CD bowled Canterbury out for 180, a lead of 26, and knocked off the runs without fuss. The openers Peter Ingram and Jamie How needed just 3.5 overs to chase down the required 27.The win was put in motion by a first-innings score of 325, aided by How’s 90 and 50 from Mathew Sinclair. Sinclair followed that fine innings by taking a career-best 3 for 29 in Canterbury’s first innings and added another on the final day of the match. Michael Mason wrecked Canterbury in their second innings, taking 5 for 42 to make it seven for the game. Ewen Thompson and Seth Rance took five and four wickets in the match respectively. Canterbury’s failure to notch up significant partnerships in either innings hurt them.Dermot Reeve, CD’s coach, was very pleased after the win. “We did well to get over 300 runs and we took all our catches. It was pleasing to see the fielders backing up the bowlers,” he told NZPA. “Mathew’s under-rated with the ball, he bowls a nagging line and length and hits the seam and on certain pitches he can do a good job with the ball.”Otago surged to their first win of the tournament with a nine-wicket win over Wellington in Queenstown. Wellington took early control of the match by declaring at 391 for 6, thanks largely to Stewart Rhodes’ unbeaten 142 on debut, but centuries from Neil Broom and Sam Wells carried the hosts to 471 for 9. After that dominant batting force, Otago’s bowlers bowled Wellington out for 203 in 62.2 overs. Only the opener Josh Brodie, who followed his first-innings 76 with 70, and Lance Woodcock (47) did much in the second innings. Set a target of 124, Otago eased home by nine wickets. The captain Craig Cumming hit an unbeaten 53 and was partnered to victory by Shaun Haig, who made 52 from 65 balls. With this win, Otago took maximum points and joined Central Districts on 10 points in fourth place.A rain-affected affair at Colin Maiden Park went Northern Districts’ way after they beat hosts Auckland by 55 runs. Two and a half days of play were lost to rain and the two captains, James Marshall and Gareth Hopkins, tried force a result. Resuming their first innings at 82 for 0 on the fourth morning, ND quickly posted 290 for 3 before declaring. Hopkins forfeited Auckland’s first innings and Marshall reciprocated by forfeiting his side’s second innings, leaving Auckland 291 to achieve their first win. It was not to be, with Graeme Aldridge (4 for 67) and Brent Arnel (3 for 52) running through the line-up. Hopkins’ 22nd first-class half-century was snapped when he went lbw to Arnel, and with that went Auckland’s chances at winning.ND’s attempt at racking up quick runs were aided by BJ Watling’s 136 off 169 balls. He and Brad Wilson (47) put on 101 runs for the first wicket, after which Marshall came to the middle and helped add 50 in 51 balls. This was ND’s third of the season and kept them on top of the standings with 26 points, 12 ahead of Wellington in second with six rounds to go.

Captain says the league will help players fine-tune their game and improve their fitness in the free window after the tournament

Vishal Dikshit05-Feb-2025India captain Harmanpreet Kaur believes the upcoming WPL will “play a very big role” in the lead up to the home ODI World Cup later this year, as the T20 league will help the India players fine-tune their game and “raise” their fitness levels in the free window after the tournament. This year’s World Cup will be the first time Harmanpreet will lead India in the 50-over tournament.The five-team WPL will run from February 14 to March 15 across four cities in India for 20 league matches and two knockout games. The India players will then have a gap of over three months before they head to England for five T20Is and three ODIs. They will then have another gap for nearly two months. As per the FTP, their next assignment will be of three homes ODIs against world champions Australia in late September and then the 50-over World Cup at home in October.Related

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Some of the India players are nursing injuries and could also use the WPL to regain and prove their match fitness.”I think this WPL is going to play a very big role because this year we have ODI World Cup,” Harmanpreet said at a press conference in Mumbai. “After the WPL, we have a very good window where we can work on our fitness and raise our fitness level. I think that gap will really help us to work really hard on ourselves.”India had failed to make the semi-finals in the last ODI World Cup, in early 2022 in New Zealand, under the captaincy of Mithali Raj.Harmanpreet was asked about India’s busy schedule at the turn of the year when they played back-to-back series against Australia (away), West Indies (home), and Ireland (home) and if that might have played a role in players having to manage their workload.Harmanpreet herself sat out of two of the three T20Is against West Indies followed by the three ODIs against Ireland. India also played all those series, after the T20 World Cup, without the injured Pooja Vastrakar whose fitness is being monitored by Mumbai Indians for her participation in the WPL. Some other players such as Yastika Bhatia, Shreyanka Patil and Priya Punia had also missed the West Indies games in December because of injuries, and have not played since then. Like Harmanpreet, India had also rested their lead fast bowler Renuka Singh for the Ireland ODIs last month.”See, as a cricketer, we really want our schedule to be packed and injuries are something which is part of the game and sometimes these are not under your control,” Harmanpreet said. “But as a cricketer, we don’t want to miss any tournament. But really happy [with] the way we are getting our schedule really packed and playing back-to-back cricket and that is something as a player, as a captain I’m enjoying. And good to see the last series went really well.”A few young players got opportunity and they did really well, played very impressive cricket. This season and this year is going to be very exciting because [of the] home World Cup and then we have really exciting cricket in front of us after the WPL. Hopefully we gel well as a team and do what a team requires and play some good cricket.”

India had plenty of positives to take from their warm-up game; Bangladesh not so much

Karthik Krishnaswamy01-Jun-2024Having endured a difficult IPL season on multiple fronts, Hardik Pandya served up a reminder of his elite all-round skills as India warmed up for the T20 World Cup with a 60-run win over Bangladesh in New York.Hardik scored an unbeaten 23-ball 40 and took 1 for 10 off his first two overs before conceding 20 in his third. But it was heartening for India to have their main allrounder influence the game as he did, in conditions – the pitch was two-paced and the outfield slow – that helped his bowling but not necessarily his batting. The other headline acts came from Rishabh Pant, who retired out after scoring a breezy 32-ball 53, and Arshdeep Singh, who took two wickets in a spell of incisive new-ball swing.

No Kohli, no Jaiswal either

Virat Kohli only landed in New York on the eve of this match, so it was expected that he wouldn’t play the warm-up fixture. It wasn’t expected, though, that Yashasvi Jaiswal – the other candidate to open alongside Rohit Sharma – didn’t play any part either. India opened, instead, with Rohit and Sanju Samson.It could have been an audition for first-choice wicketkeeper. On the day, Samson scored 1 off 6, and was lbw in the second over to a Shoriful Islam in-ducker. There seemed to be a chance that this ball may have gone on to miss leg stump, but DRS was not in use so Samson had to go.

Pant fires at No. 3

Pant replaced Samson, and proceeded to play the most fluent innings of the day. India were 33 for 1 in five overs when he began their acceleration with three sixes off Shakib Al Hasan in the sixth. He hit four fours and four sixes in all, and targeted the area behind the wicket with aplomb, using the reverse-sweep and his trademark no-look scoop over short fine leg to telling effect.Pant kept wicket too, rather than Samson, and by the end of the day it seemed fairly certain that he would take the big gloves on Wednesday, when India begin their tournament proper against Ireland.Arshdeep Singh took two wickets with the new ball•ICC via Getty Images

Allrounder watch

Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik were the other major contributors to India’s total of 182 for 5, scoring a combined 71 off 41, while Shivam Dube, who batted between them at No. 5, struggled with the conditions. Dube swung at the spinners repeatedly, but only made one true connection, a massive six over wide long-off, while scoring 14 off 16.Then, having only bowled just the one over in 14 games during the IPL, he proceeded to bowl three here and pick up two wickets, though Bangladesh were already 42 for 5 when he came on.Ravindra Jadeja batted at No. 7, but Axar Patel, India’s other left-arm fingerspinner, bowled before him and picked up a wicket. It remains to be seen which of the two feature in India’s first XI, or if they go with both and leave out the wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav.India play three of their four group-stage games in New York, and if conditions remain broadly similar, they may be able to get quite a bit of bowling out of their four allrounders – Hardik, Jadeja, Axar and Dube.

Arshdeep vs Siraj

Jasprit Bumrah is the first name on the bowling end of India’s team sheet, but who partners him with the new ball? On this day, Arshdeep made a serious case for himself, swinging the new ball prodigiously and getting Soumya Sarkar and Litton Das out in Test-match manner.Mohammed Siraj was excellent too, getting the ball to behave awkwardly from a hard length, and dismissing Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto with one such delivery that cramped him for room. On the evidence of their displays here, India will have a hard task picking just one of these two, assuming they go with two frontline quicks and Hardik as the third seamer.

Problems for Bangladesh

For Bangladesh, who came into this match on the back of a shock series defeat to USA, the result reinforced major worries going into the World Cup, chiefly their long-standing lack of power-hitting. India hit ten sixes in their 20 overs, and Bangladesh just one. Of the four batters who faced at least 10 balls in their chase of 183, only one – Mahmudullah, who top-scored with a 28-ball 40 – went at above a run a ball.Mahmudullah also bowled two tidy overs and dismissed Rohit, and took the catch of the day to send back Dube, sprinting to his right from long-on and juggling the ball expertly while stepping out of and then back into the field of play. All in all, it was a good day for the 38-year-old.Bangladesh suffered an injury scare when left-arm quick Shoriful left the field five balls into India’s final over when he attempted to stop a straight hit from Hardik and took a painful hit to his left hand. The extent of his injury wasn’t clear by the time the game ended.The margin of India’s victory, however, may have been inflated by the resources available to the two teams. India’s quicks did the bulk of their early damage, picking up four wickets between them to reduce Bangladesh to 41 for 5. Bangladesh, however, only bowled five overs of genuine pace – and one of gentle medium-pace from Soumya Sarkar. This was because they rested both Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman, both of whom could have caused India problems on this pitch.

Being overlooked for central contract left retiring bowler feeling like “a third wheel” on tournament eve

Matt Roller11-Nov-20233:29

Harmison: England squad for WI will have fresh faces

David Willey signed off from his international career by taking his 100th ODI wicket in England’s win over Pakistan in Kolkata – then revealed he had considered pulling out of the World Cup as late as the day that the team flew to India at the end of September.Willey announced before England’s defeat to Australia in Ahmedabad last week that he would quit international cricket after this tournament at the age of 33. He was told in September that he had not been offered a central contract for 2023-24, then learned that he was the only member of the World Cup squad without an offer.He was incensed, and soon decided that he was no longer interested in feeling like “a third wheel” as a fringe player. He said that constant uncertainty over his schedule had taken its toll on him, his wife and their two children, and has therefore opted to “take control”.Related

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Willey started the World Cup running the drinks for England but replaced Sam Curran for their fourth match, a 229-run loss to South Africa in Mumbai, and has played every game since. He finished the tournament with 11 wickets at 23.54, second only to Adil Rashid in England’s squad, and signed off with 3 for 56 in his 10 overs.”It was mixed emotions,” Willey said. “My time is done… but it’s with deep regret. Anybody looking in has probably looked at the way I’ve gone about my business and [seen that I am] probably playing the best cricket of my career. I’m 33, as fit as I’ve ever been.”One of the reasons that I wasn’t offered a contract was them going in a different direction after the World Cup – I don’t know why [they are]. It’s been a period for some time now… not knowing quite where I stand with England and it’s just taken its toll, and becomes very tiring.”David Willey was Player of the Match in his international swansong•AFP/Getty Images

Willey believes he would have been able to play a valuable role for England at the T20 World Cup next June, had he been offered a contract. “[If there is] an injury or two, they’re going to be calling on someone with very little to no experience in World Cups,” he said.”Never say never, but right now, I’m very confident [in] my decision that today was my last game of cricket for England. Do I want to go to the Caribbean and run drinks, and not know where I stand, and just feel like a third wheel again – which is very much what I felt like when I turned up at Lord’s, being the only one without a contract? Probably not, so I’m done.”Willey said he had doubts over whether he should travel to India after learning that he was the only squad member without a central contract: “I wasn’t sure whether I was going to come to the World Cup, even to the 11th hour. The morning that we were joining up at Lord’s, I still wasn’t sure whether I’d make the trip or not.”He added: “From then on, it [retirement] was something that was on my mind. It’s not just that I haven’t been offered a contract; it’s how I feel valued as an England player, when I look down that list of other guys that have got contracts… I came to the decision that the time was right for me to call it a day.”Willey removed both Pakistan openers – Abdullah Shafique and Fakhar Zaman – in his new-ball spell on Saturday, then returned to have Agha Salman caught at mid-on to become the 15th Englishman to reach 100 ODI wickets. He also became the second England men’s player after Alastair Cook to win the Player of the Match award in his final international appearance.”On the phone to my wife this morning, she said, ‘Go on – just get to 100 wickets. It’d be a nice way to finish,'” he said. “To do that was a nice way for me personally [to sign off].”He said he wanted to leave international cricket on his own terms, and hoped that he had proved Rob Key – who, as managing director, was ultimately responsible for central contract offers – wrong. “Keysy said to me, ‘I hope you can prove me wrong.’ Maybe I’ve done it over the last few games,” Willey said.”The timing [of his retirement announcement], people may have looked at it and frowned upon my timing there. But for me personally, there’s not many opportunities you get to walk away from [international] cricket on your terms, and I wanted to really enjoy my last three games of cricket [for England] and play without looking over my shoulder, thinking, ‘One bad performance and I’m out of the side.'”Willey will continue to play domestic and franchise cricket. He captains Northamptonshire in the T20 Blast and has a contract with Abu Dhabi Knight Riders for the ILT20 in January-February. He is also likely to be retained by Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL, and by Welsh Fire in the Hundred.

Peshwar Zalmi lose a second straight game after posting 240 or more on the board

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Mar-2023Rilee Rossouw brought jaws – and PSL records – down with an unbridled display of power-hitting, turning a chase of 243 into a cakewalk. Along the way, he made the joint-fastest fifty of the tournament, converted it into its fastest ever hundred – going past himself – and pushed the Multan Sultans into the PSL playoffs.Peshawar Zalmi – still not sure of their place in those playoffs – have now lost two straight matches despite posting 240 and more on the board. They were ambushed by Jason Roy a few nights ago and now it was Rossouw’s turn as the South African powerhouse clattered eight sixes and 12 fours to mastermind the second-highest chase in all of T20 history, with five balls to spare.The longest Rossouw went between boundaries in his innings was six balls. His first five scoring shots were all fours or sixes. And he kept going. By 17 deliveries faced, he had a fifty to his name. He only ran two of those runs. T-w-o. That detour into English county cricket via Kolpak had taken one of the biggest and brightest stars in South Africa away from the spotlight. But he’s back now and he’s got numbers that are scarcely believable. Over 297 T20s, he’s maintained an average over 30 and a strike rate over 140. Some of the other people who’ve managed to do that are Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, David Warner and AB de Villiers.Rossouw had a strong support cast helping him. Pollard chipped in with 52 off just 24 balls. Their third-wicket partnership – 99 off 43 balls – formed the bedrock of this chase. A little while earlier, when Sultans were bowling, 21-year old seamer Abbas Afridi, picked up 4 for 39. Three of those wickets came in the space of nine deliveries where he gave away only eight runs. In a game where where they were scored at the rate of two a ball, that was noteworthy.So too were Babar Azam (73 off 39) and Saim Ayub’s (58 off 33) fifties. Zalmi’s two openers were incredibly fluent at the start of the game, setting up such a strong platform that they could keep hitting despite the speed bumps that Afridi’s spell had put in front of them. At the halfway point, they would’ve felt fairly pleased with their work. The rest is now history.

Success in familiar conditions is all very well, but World Test Championship hopes may rest on spin attack

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Durban14-Feb-2019South Africa are ranked No. 2 in Tests, have the most fearsome phalanx of quicks on the planet, a serviceable top order, and are, in general, an outstanding fielding side. Despite a regular loss of wickets late on day two at Kingsmead, they have imposed themselves on Sri Lanka, and have achieved a strong position in the match.This is roughly how this Test was supposed to go, so no real surprises, right? Except maybe a minor one. South Africa’s dominance has been achieved without significant bowling intervention from left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj. On his home ground – the most spin-friendly Test venue in the country – Maharaj’s bowling has largely been irrelevant in the first innings. Compare this to the last time Kingsmead hosted a game. Maharaj bowled 33.4 first-innings overs, and took 5 for 123.It’s no big deal in the context of South Africa’s home summer, because it was performing quicks that have kept Maharaj out of the Test XI for two matches against Pakistan, and performing quicks who trussed Sri Lanka up for 191 between them and effectively made Maharaj surplus to requirements.But that is only in the context of the home summer, in which South Africa have been desperate to remind everyone just how good they are, following that 2-0 away thrashing in Sri Lanka.There is, perhaps, also an unsaid undertone of retribution in this particular series. “Yah, you can beat us in your dustbowls, but check us back in our own patch. We’ll show you what we’re really all about over there.” In fact, while South Africa had been in Sri Lanka last year, Faf du Plessis had spoken of reciprocating Sri Lanka’s “streetsmart” tactics, when South Asian teams next toured them.So instead of a regular Kingsmead surface – the kind on which Maharaj might have been needed for more than three overs in the first innings – what South Africa had requested was pace, bounce, and if possible, movement. What they got was a surface on which even Sri Lanka’s vastly under-strength seam attack could dismiss them for 235. A track on which 19 wickets have fallen to fast bowling on the first two days, with reverse swing never having to come into the reckoning.This, into an important year for South Africa, on the Test front. They have a three-Test series in India coming up in October, where Maharaj will clearly be required. Have South Africa done enough to develop their promising young spinner, given they have requested uniformly fast-and-bouncy tracks over the last few months? Probably not.That India series will also be South Africa’s first taste of the World Test Championship – a four-year league that rewards away victories. Though it may be a surprise to some, Maharaj has actually been South Africa’s best bowler away from home since 2016 (against the top nine teams), sporting an average of 26.3. It is not just in Asia that he stands to be a force – the more he plays, the better chance there is he will trouble batsmen in England and Australia as well.If there was a need for a cautionary tale – a reminder that of the danger that lays in ordering uniform tracks – South Africa need only look at their present opposition. Sri Lanka have largely refused to field more than one frontline seam bowler at home since roughly mid-2016, because they believed rank turners to be their surest route to victory. That strategy has not been altogether unfruitful. In 2016 they whitewashed Australia – a team they almost never beat – and then last year, they of course pummelled South Africa as well.But look at them now. They are in the middle of a sequence of terrible away series, having lost three of four Tests on the road. Overall their team is in more disarray than ever. Made-to-order pitches are great for short-term results, but it has also prevented Sri Lanka from developing the promising young quicks in their own ranks. Kasun Rajitha and Lahiru Kumara had starred in a Test win in Barbados in June last year, then didn’t play a Test again until December, when the next away tour came around. Unsurprisingly, they were both rusty in those New Zealand Tests, and had added no new skills to their bowling during the layoff.If this sounds like nitpicking, that is because it probably is. South Africa are an excellent team. They will almost certainly be among the contenders for that World Test Championship crown. But they are, presently, in the grip of some serious pace worship – a philosophy that is not without its rewards. But in the long term, giving their spinner as much Test exposure as possible, may prove more rewarding.