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Dale Steyn is prepared to share the bowling plaudits around as South Africa aim for a clean sweep in the ODI series against New Zealand

Firdose Moonda01-Mar-2012There was a time in South African cricket where the bowling spotlight was occupied entirely by Dale Steyn. It probably started when New Zealand toured South Africa in the summer of 2007 and Steyn made his big splash, first by remodelling Craig Cumming’s face – thanks to a fractured cheekbone – and then by taking 20 wickets in two Tests.From that season, Steyn was among the most talked-about bowlers in world cricket. He went on to take 10-wicket hauls in Melbourne in 2008 and Nagpur in 2010, and engaged in an enthralling battle with Sachin Tendulkar at Newlands the next January. Morne Morkel contributed to some of the glory and the two formed what became known as the most-fearsome new-ball pair in the world but it was obvious Steyn was the ringmaster and Morkel his trusty aide.Now Steyn has to share the sunshine with a clutch of his countrymen. Vernon Philander is his latest opening partner and has already hogged headlines in the home series; Morkel is coming into his own; Lonwabo Tsotsobe’s reliability is being recognised; and Marchant de Lange is the man batsmen may be hiding their faces from. Steyn is still the No. 1 Test bowler but he is 16th in the ODI rankings, behind Tsotsobe and Morkel, and is happy to share the success with them.”If Morne is picking up five wickets and Lopsy is picking up wickets, I’m not going to moan,” Steyn said. “I’m happy. I know if I just keep doing this somewhere along the line I will get a performance that comes my way.”Steyn joined up with the squad for the ODI leg of the tour and has played the first two matches of the series. His return in both was identical – 1 for 37 – and he has looked every bit as dangerous as always, although he said he is still finding his rhythm. He called his first ball of the tour, a late away-swinger at top speed a “jetlag delivery” but said he has been putting in some of his most focused preparation as he continues to spearhead the attack.”AB wants to me to strike all the time and that’s what’s I am doing. I am trying,” Steyn said. “I haven’t found the edge. I’ve gone past the bat countless number of times in the last two games. I’ve gone back and watched my performances and said where can I make it better? But when you are getting 1 for 37 in a one-day game, there’s not much to complain about. That doesn’t happen often for strike bowlers, they should be going at six [runs per over], attacking more and so on but I am quite happy with what’s happening.”Steyn is known to take a bit of time to find his best form but the scheduling of international cricket has meant that he cannot play every match. He was rested for the last two of the five ODIs against Sri Lanka, once the series had been won, and the three T20Is against New Zealand.South Africa’s management seem to be planning it so he will peak in the Tests but Steyn said is being careful not to think that far ahead. “My mind is firmly on the last one-day game,” he said. “It’s fair to say that as South Africans, in the past we’ve been known to wrap up series and then take our foot off the pedal for the last two games and that’s speaking quite critically of our team. We want to win three-nil.”The series has already been sealed in South Africa’s favour so the dead rubber match could hardly be described as crucial but Steyn said it will play a vital part in the context of the tour as a whole. “We’re looking at the future and it comes down to crunch games. This could be the type of game that could be a crunch game for us. Rather than letting the momentum slip away into the Test series, we want to make a proper dent.”With New Zealand already disappointed, even demoralised, South Africa have already made significant inroads into their hosts’ mindsets. The rest of the work remains to be done on the pitch. New Zealand have begun preparing more seamer friendly wickets for their four-pronged pace attack and Steyn said if that trend continues, the South Africans will be equally well accommodated. “The way the wickets have played here so far, there’s been a bit of pace and bounce in them and if the Test wickets are the same we could cause quite a stir,” Steyn said, before concluding with a little cheek. “Like we’ve done so far.”Edited by Alan Gardner

Rajasthan Royals have signed Owais Shah, the England batsman, as a replacement for their former captain Shane Warne, who retired from all forms of the game during last season’s IPL

Tariq Engineer07-Mar-2012Rajasthan Royals have signed Owais Shah, the England batsman, as a replacement for their former captain Shane Warne, who retired from all forms of the game during last season’s IPL.Shah, who has been part of the Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Daredevils and the now defunct Kochi Tuskers Kerala in previous tournaments, was instrumental in the Hobart Hurricane’s run to the semi-finals of the Big Bash League this season. He averaged an impressive 70.50 from eight games, scoring 282 runs at a strike rate of 149.20.”We are delighted to have signed on Owais Shah to play for the Rajasthan Royals,” Raghu Iyer, the chief executive of the Royals, said in a statement. “He is one of the most exciting batsmen in the world and has been particularly outstanding in the shorter forms of the game.” Shah should slot into the middle order, where he could be a replacement for Ross Taylor as the team’s finisher. Taylor was traded to the Delhi Daredevils last month.Shah was originally bought by the Delhi Daredevils for $275,000 in the 2009 player auction but did not get a game. Statistically, his best season came in 2010, after he was traded to the Knight Riders. He averaged 57.50 from five games that year, leading the team in that category. In 2011, he was bought by the Kerala for $200,000 but only played three games, making 26 runs from two innings with a strike-rate of 173.33.He was unsold in the 2012 player auction after the Kochi franchise was terminated by the BCCI and a number of players added to this year’s auction list. Warne captained the Royals for the first four seasons before pulling down the curtain on his IPL career. Rahul Dravid has succeeded him as captain.Edited by Kanishkaa Balachandran

Jon Culley at New Road28-Apr-2012
ScorecardAneesh Kapil scored 41 to go with the three wickets he took on the first day•Getty ImagesIf the Met Office is to be believed, spectators still determined to attend the final day at New Road should come equipped with sou’westers and wellingtons, and possibly even access to a boat, so all of what happened on day three may be academic after Worcestershire blocked off Nottinghamshire’s attempt to secure what appeared to be the only realistic route to a positive outcome.Having reduced Worcestershire to 66 for 6 on Friday evening, before poor light soon afterwards deprived them of the chance to make further inroads, Nottinghamshire needed to stop them reaching the 94 required to avoid the follow-on and then seek to bowl them out a second time.Their plan was foiled, though, in no small part thanks to a young allrounder who is putting another feather in the cap of Worcestershire’s academy director, Damian D’Oliveira.Aneesh Kapil, an England U-19 from Wolverhampton, who joined fellow academy products Matt Pardoe, Jack Manuel and Neil Pinner in the senior squad last season, had already justified his selection by taking three wickets with his whippy fast-medium in Nottinghamshire’s first innings.Yet he is clearly capable of making his name in either discipline, as he demonstrated by making a composed and stylish 41 to help steer Worcestershire out of trouble and ensure, in all likelihood, that this match ends in a soggy draw.Not 19 until August, Kapil returned to first-team action having been blooded with some promise last summer, when his highlights included figures of 3 for 9 from four overs against Northamptonshire in Twenty20 and a half-century on his first-class debut against Sussex at Hove.He shared a partnership of 39 with James Cameron for the seventh wicket that enabled Worcestershire to steer a course into safe waters then helped Richard Jones add useful late-order runs, clipping Nottinghamshire’s lead to 86.It was a measured innings spanning two hours that included four boundaries, including one sumptuous off-drive off Harry Gurney. He succumbed finally to Andre Adams, consistently Nottinghamshire’s most dangerous bowler, although not before smacking the New Zealander’s opening delivery after lunch over extra cover for a one-bounce four.Adams, who took five in an innings seven times last season, more than any bowler in Division One, gained revenge when the youngster was leg before two balls later, completing his first five-wicket haul of the season.Harry Gurney also justified his selection by taking four wickets, the pick of them with a ball that drew Cameron into a push outside off stump that he edged to wicketkeeper Chris Read. Nottinghamshire will have Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann available to face Lancashire at Old Trafford next Wednesday but may find it difficult to leave out Gurney in favour of Luke Fletcher on this evidence.With such poor weather in prospect, Nottinghamshire may not have a chance to set up a run chase, which would be their normal course of action after closing on 88 for 2, a lead of 174.With Alan Richardson off the field nursing a minor side strain, Worcestershire gave Jones and David Lucas the new ball. Jones made an early breakthrough as Alex Hales clipped tamely to square leg, and Lucas appealed successfully for leg before against Michael Lumb, even though the ball looked a touch leg side.Neil Edwards, who was dropped by Daryl Mitchell, the captain, at second slip off Lucas on nine, went on to pull Jones for six just before the last of several interruptions for bad light. He finished unbeaten on 49.

West Indies Women secured an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series against Sri Lanka Women by winning the rain-affected third Twenty20 international

ESPNcricinfo staff07-May-2012
ScorecardWest Indies Women secured an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series against Sri Lanka Women by winning the rain-affected third Twenty20 international in Trinidad.Persistent early morning showers led to a delayed start and the match was reduced to a 16-over contest. West Indies won the toss, bowled under overcast conditions and started strongly, reducing the visitors to 30 for 3 in the seventh over. Deepika Rasangika and Shashikala Siriwardene added 26 runs for the fourth wicket, but once Siriwardene was dismissed with the score on 56, Sri Lanka collapsed and only managed to reach 77 for 8.West Indies started shakily as Sripali Weerakkody ran through the top order, picking up three wickets, as the hosts were reduced to 25 for 5 in the seventh over. However Shemaine Campbelle (27*) held her nerve, putting on 18 runs for the seventh wicket with Anisa Mohammad and an unbeaten 24 runs off just 17 balls for the eighth wicket with Tremayne Smartt (12*), to help West Indies reach a hard-fought win.The fourth T20 will be played in Trinidad on May 7.

Derbyshire are the longest-serving second division outfit and should 12 seasons out of the top tier turn into 13 once this campaign is over, they may look back at their draw against Hampshire and think: ‘If only…’

David Lloyd at West End12-May-2012
ScorecardCenturies from Wes Durston and Dan Redfern (pictured) had limited value after Derbyshire failed to agree to terms with Hampshire on a possible run chase•Getty ImagesDerbyshire are the longest-serving second division outfit. It is not a great claim to fame, admittedly – and should 12 seasons out of the top tier turn into 13 once this campaign is done and dusted then they may just look back on today and think: “If only…”If only Hampshire had agreed to engineer a run chase amounting to something like 240 off 70 overs (a suggestion which had a miniscule chance of being accepted and probably received an LOL text response). Or, perhaps even, if only Derbyshire had been really brave and gone along with Hampshire’s original proposal (believed to be for a double forfeiture and the pursuit of 353 from 96 overs).As it was, no deal could be done and spectators had to settle for watching a less than enthralling battle for bonus points. Given that the first two days of this match were lost to rain, a draw had long been the likeliest outcome but events at Bristol, with Yorkshire prepared to try to hunt down 400, and then succeeding in style, showed that where there is a will there is sometimes a way.Not to say the final day here was completely without interest. With Kabir Ali and James Tomlinson playing their first championship matches of the season after suffering injuries on the warm-up tour of Barbados, Hampshire’s new-ball attack had a sharp cutting edge.Unlike Derbyshire’s seamers 24 hours earlier, the pair barely wasted a delivery for half an hour or so and they put the visitors into a bit of difficulty at 37 for three. Just for a while there was the possibility of a stunning collapse – and had Liam Dawson, the leading slip catcher in the country so far this season, held a chance offered by Wes Durston, off Sean Ervine, with the total 73 then fantasy just might have become fact.Instead, Durston settled into one of those blockbusting innings which has helped to revive a professional career that appeared dead and buried when Somerset released him in 2009. With Dan Redfern providing less belligerent but splendidly staunch support, Derbyshire’s ship was not only righted but also set on a serene, full steam ahead course. Between them the pair added 178 for the fourth wicket and, quite rightly, both scored centuries.Durston’s hundred was packed with ferocious blows. His second 50 took only 32 balls and by the time he was bowled off stump, by Ervine, for 121 he had struck five sixes as well as 16 fours. No-one suffered more than Dawson, the fielder who dropped him on 37, with all but one of Durston’s sixes coming off the left-arm spinner’s bowling.With Redfern playing with more and more confidence, it would be surprising if at least some of those in the Derbyshire dressing-room were not wishing they could turn the clock back a few hours in order to reconsider Hampshire’s original offer.It would be silly, of course, to state with any degree of certainty that events would have followed the same course had the visitors been chasing a win, rather than batting under minimal pressure. And Hampshire could have defended once the total started to grow, instead of searching relentlessly for wickets.Whatever the ins and outs, though, when Derbyshire reached 353 they were only seven wickets down and 22 overs remained.Redfern had gone by then, though not before bettering the 110 he made against Northants during the first match of the season. The 22-year-old left-hander walked away with a new career-best of 133 but just think how much more satisfaction he would have gained from scoring those runs in a winning cause.Derbyshire’s view was that never in the club’s history have they chased as many as 353 to win a game – and 10 points in the bag are not to be sneezed at. But with Yorkshire winning they have lost their outright lead at the top of the table.As for Hampshire, captain Jimmy Adams admitted to “a frustrating day.” And he added: “I think both sides were keen for a game but unfortunately what we thought might be fair was different to what they thought was fair so we couldn’t come to an agreement. I’ll keep the negotiations quiet but I think they wanted a shorter chase than we did.”

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and its players have agreed in principle to the central contracts for the next year

Tariq Engineer17-Jul-2012Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and its players have agreed in principle to the terms of the central contracts for the next year, bringing to an end almost five months of negotiations and avoiding a potential stand-off over Sri Lanka’s top players participating in the inaugural Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL).The new contracts, which will run from March 1, 2012 to February 28, 2013, will bear the existing retainer and match fees, ESPNcricinfo understands.On Monday, Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lanka captain, had said the country’s cricketers might decide against taking part in the SLPL if the Sri Lankan board didn’t “settle” the players’ central contracts. The agreement between the two sides means the players no longer have any objections to taking part in the Twenty20 tournament.”Player contracts will be signed tomorrow or the day after,” Nishanta Ranatunga, the SLC secretary, told ESPNcricinfo on Tuesday. “It has been agreed upon by the players and the board.” Sri Lanka host India for five ODIs and one Twenty20 game from July 21, and Ranatunga was confident the contracts would be in place for the series.There was a discussion about requiring the players to seek prior permission from SLC before speaking to the media, but that clause did not make it in to the final version of the contract. However, if a player does make comments considered detrimental to SLC, he could face a disciplinary committee hearing.The contract issue follows a year in which SLC ran into financial problems after running up debts of close to $70 million to finance the building of two international stadiums in Hambantota and Pallekele, and to renovate the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, for the 2011 World Cup. As a result the players were not initially paid their salaries for eight months. In December 2011, 42.36% of the fees due to the players from the World Cup to September 30, 2011 were paid. The payment of US$2 million was made directly into the players’ bank accounts, instead of routing it through Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), on December 16.SLC claimed to have paid the remaining dues in March 2012 after the state-owned Bank of Ceylon agreed to release 600 million rupees (approx US$5.07 million) to the board, following discussions with sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage. However, the players have not been paid since the previous contracts expired, as the new contracts are yet to be signed.The SLPL starts on August 11, with the final to be played on August 31. SLC had released a list of 112 local players and 56 overseas players who will take part in the event. The tournament, which features seven franchises this year, will have two more the next year, covering all nine provinces.Jayawardene, who is the icon player for the Wayamba franchise, said the focus of the tournament should be on developing the game in Sri Lanka. “While we say all good things about the tournament, let me caution everyone … While we are making financial gains, the commitment of the people involved should be to harness the talent, develop the game in the outstations, get every possible youngster involved and let them realise their dream of playing for Sri Lanka one day.”

Jacques Kallis has made a return to the South Africa Twenty20 squad, having been selected in the final 15 that will travel to Sri Lanka for the World Twenty20 in September

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Aug-2012South Africa’s World T20 squad

AB de Villiers (capt), Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Johan Botha, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Jacques Kallis, Richard Levi, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Justin Ontong, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe

Jacques Kallis is set to make a Twenty20 international comeback, having been selected in the South Africa squad that will travel to Sri Lanka for the World Twenty20 in September. Kallis was last a regular member of the side in mid-2010, during South Africa’s tour of the West Indies.AB de Villiers will lead the squad. Graeme Smith, who was picked in the 30 probables, has not made the final 15. Fast bowlers Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, who were rested for the triangular Twenty20 series against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in June, return for the marquee tournament.Marchant de Lange, the 21-year-old quick, has not made the squad due to injury. He had sustained a lower back injury during the Twenty20 triangular series, missing the ongoing Test series in England as a result.”We have had basically the same squad together for the past year and many of them also produced stand-out performances at the Indian Premier League,” Cricket South Africa’s selection convener, Andrew Hudson, said. “[They] will have excellent preparation for the World Twenty20 by finishing the England tour with three [Twenty20] matches there. They may be playing on a different surface to that they will find in Sri Lanka, but they will be able to hone their Twenty20-specific skills.”Kallis was part of the IPL-winning Kolkata Knight Riders this year, scoring 409 runs in 17 games. He provided the team with solidity at the top of the order all through their successful campaign, and produced a vital 69 off 49 in the final, to help Knight Riders chase down 191 against Chennai Super Kings. He also put in a solid showing with the ball, aggregating 15 wickets in the tournament, to finish second on Knight Riders’ bowling charts.

A day before the World Twenty20 begins in Sri Lanka, India’s bowlers failed to defend 185 in a warm-up game after R Ashwin had reduced Pakistan to 91 for 5

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Sep-2012Pakistan 186 for 5 (K Akmal 92*, Hafeez 38, Malik 37*) beat India 185 for 3 (Kohli 75*, Rohit 56, Ajmal 2-22) by five wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Kamran Akmal was too hot to handle for a shaky Indian bowling unit•AFPA day before the World Twenty20 begins in Sri Lanka, India’s bowlers failed to defend 185 in a warm-up game after R Ashwin had reduced Pakistan to 91 for 5. Kamran Akmal’s sustained assault finished the game with nearly an over left. Barring Ashwin, Kamran toyed with India’s bowling as he swung six after meaty six in the company of Shoaib Malik, who bettered even Kamran with a strike-rate over 200 for his 37. What will worry India further is that they lost despite the use of five frontline bowlers, the warm-up game effectively allowing them the Supersub.Pakistan won’t be complaining, though. after an indisciplined show from their bowlers, they had their task cut out when they came out to bat. They started in belligerent fashion, but lost two wickets in Ashwin’s first over. Kamran, though, made sure the momentum was not lost. He began with a good-looking cover-drive for a couple first ball, and lofted the second ball he faced for a six.Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh then suffered at Kamran’s hands before Ashwin came back to turn it around it with a mid-innings spell. In the 10th over he had Hafeez and Shahid Afridi caught at the boundary, before diving full length to his right to catch Umar Akmal off his own bowling. At that stage it seemed Pakistan had messed the chase up by playing around too much with the batting order, but Malik and Kamran had other ideas.Sensible batting followed before the turnaround started in the 15th over when Kamran swung Zaheer Khan for successive sixes over long-on, and Malik drove him for four over mid-off. While runs seemed all too easy, the key over remained Ashwin’s. All Indian eggs seemed to be in his basket as Kamran and Malik basically had their way with the others. By the time Ashwin came on to bowl the 18th over, the equation had changed completely.Pakistan needed 29 now, and they could afford to take it easy in Ashwin’s over. They were content with risk-free seven runs off his over, knowing well they could hit the others. And hit others they did. Kamran walked way across to Balaji in the 19th over to sweep a low full toss for a square leg over six, and Malik matched it with a loft over long-off to leave only six to get off the last over. Irfan conceded it through one loopy full toss.It wasn’t all doom and gloom for India, though, as one of their main batsmen extended his golden form, and another found some much-needed form. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma powered to fifties in a century partnership that seemed to have given India enough. While Kohli’s was just an extension of an incredible run, Rohit’s showing in both warm-up matches – he made 37 against Sri Lanka on Saturday – will be a big relief for the management. The only downside of Kohli and Rohit’s dominance was that Yuvraj Singh has now faced just 17 deliveries in both warm-up games put together.Kohli’s supreme touch was evident when he nonchalantly clipped his first delivery through midwicket for four in the fifth over. His confidence spurred him to step out consistently to the Pakistan spinners. Rohit found confidence as his innings grew, and even overtook Kohli on the scoreboard briefly. Their partnership of 127 came at close to 10 runs an over. Like Ashwin for India, the Pakistan bowling unit had Saeed Ajmal fighting a lone, losing battle. He went at under a run a ball while others bowled poorly under pressure.Kohli and Rohit found a way around Ajmal quite appreciably, but they were to find out the same done to their bowling unit, only much more emphatically.

Mahela Jaywardene has confirmed he will step down from the captaincy at the end of Sri Lanka’s tour of Australia – a move he had hinted at for some months now

Andrew Fernando in Hobart13-Dec-2012Mahela Jayawardene has confirmed he will step down from the captaincy at the end of Sri Lanka’s tour of Australia – a move he had hinted at for some months now. Jayawardene’s second stint at the helm began in January, when he was called in to replace Tillakaratne Dilshan. The fifth ODI on January 23 in Hobart will be his final match as captain.Vice-captain Angelo Mathews is the most likely successor, and Jayawardene said his decision to step down was largely borne from a desire to assist Mathews with leadership in Mathews’ first phase as captain. Jayawardene will continue to be available for selection in all forms of cricket.”I took over the captaincy for 12 months and that ends after this series, so I don’t want to continue to captain Sri Lanka after this tour. This will be my last,” Jayawardene said on the eve of the first Test. “I was going to wait until the end of the series but I thought I might as well do it now, having had a chat to the selectors.”Jayawardene had resigned from the captaincy in 2009 after four years in the job, and was reinstalled by the selectors after Dilshan’s leadership had proven unsuccessful. The team had had a poor stretch of results since the 2011 World Cup, amid financial distress for the board and administrative tumult in Sri Lanka Cricket’s first election in seven years.Jayawardene’s leadership appeared to restore Sri Lanka’s on-field fortunes almost immediately, when they performed creditably in the ODI tri-series in Australia in February. Since then he has also led the side to a home win against then No.1-ranked Test side England, making a critical 180 to set up victory in March, before earning Sri Lanka their first Test series win in three years, in July. Sri Lanka then advanced to the final of the World Twenty20 under his watch, matching the runners-up medals they had also earnt in the 2007 World Cup, during Jayawardene’s first stint at the helm.”I hope I don’t get any more SOS calls from them later on,” he said. “This year has been brilliant. I’ve enjoyed and what I’ve achieved.”Angelo Mathews is the most likely successor to Mahela Jayawardene•Manoj RidimahaliyaddaMathews has been considered for the captaincy as far back as April 2011, when Kumar Sangakkara resigned from the job. Dilshan was considered the safer alternative then, given Mathews’ youth and inexperience, but he has become a much more mature player since and has also had a successful brush with leadership in the Sri Lanka Premier League. Mathews was made vice-captain in all forms in July 2011, and has more recently been named Sri Lanka’s Twenty20 captain. If he succeeds Jayawardene, he will be Sri Lanka’s fourth Test captain in 24 months.”I think Angelo is the one everyone has earmarked and I think he’s good enough. If you see some of the other captains while they were young, you’ve got [Graeme] Smith, [Stephen] Fleming and a few others around – maybe the first few years will be tough for them, but they’ll grow into the job. I think maybe if Angelo gets the opportunity, the transition will be much easier for him because he’ll have Kumar, myself and Dilshan around him in tough situations. We can build him through that period and after that he’ll be on his own.”Sri Lanka are light on Tests in 2013, thanks to five Tests being removed from their calendar next year, and a home series against Bangladesh will be the new captain’s first assignment at the helm. The Champions Trophy looms later in the year however, as well as an ODI tri-series in the West Indies and a full away tour against Pakistan in December.”We don’t have a lot of cricket next year – not many big tours,” Jayawardene said. “So it will be a nice easy start for Angelo if he takes over.”

Saeed Ajmal, the Pakistan offspinner, has started his own elite academy scheme at the University of Agriculture in Faisalabad

Umar Farooq11-Jan-2013Saeed Ajmal, the Pakistan offspinner, has started his own elite academy scheme at the University of Agriculture in Faisalabad. The R70 million ($720,000 approx) multi-facility academy will be spread over 18 acres of land and will be completed in two years’ time, in three phases of construction.Ajmal has provided R10 million ($102,000 approx) of his own money to the academy, with the government and major industry promising to further contribute to its funding. The lucrative project will include an indoor and outdoor practice school, lodging facility, swimming pool and a floodlit ground.Ajmal, speaking at the launch of the first phase, said he wanted to help develop the next generation of cricketers, in particular spinners, for Pakistan. “I have experienced tough days early in my career but with this facility nobody will have to go through a difficult time,” Ajmal said. “I want to groom the enormous talent in the country without fee. I don’t want the players to suffer the ordeal I did in coming to this stage.”Ajmal, 35, made a relatively late entry into international cricket, at the age of 30. He started in Tests when he was almost 32 and so far has played 23 Test matches, taking 122 wickets at 27.09. He also has 117 one-day wickets and is the highest wicket-taker in Twenty20 internationals, with 71. Ajmal said he wanted to give “youngsters an opportunity to follow in my footsteps”.Cricket may be the most popular game in Pakistan but there is a lack of modern facilities at the grassroots level. The PCB owns the national academy and regional academies around the country but they are sanctioned only for the use of national and domestic cricketers. Club cricket is the main source of new cricketers but they rely on meagre facilities.”The idea is to find the talent and give them all the necessary to groom [their skills],” Ajmal said. “They will be paid for their livelihood and we will help develop those who have been marginalised and unable to thrive for many reasons.”