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James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, has thrown the governing body’s support behind a vote in favour of marriage equality in the postal plebiscite being mailed to Australian homes this week.CA on Monday revealed that the organisation had joined more than 1600 Australian businesses, industries and sports in signing an open letter in support of a legislate change to allow same-sex couples to marry. Other sporting bodies to sign on include the AFL, Basketball Australia, the Football Federation of Australia and the NRL.”Cricket must be a welcoming environment for each and every one of us, regardless of gender, cultural heritage and – importantly in the current environment – sexuality,” Sutherland said. “That holds true whether you are pulling on pads for the first time in community cricket, representing your country, volunteering your time or working for a cricket organisation.”In 2014, we joined other leading sporting codes to announce our support of the Bingham Cup charter, which seeks to end homophobia in sport and ensure that all sports have inclusive and anti-discriminatory policies. There is still progress to be made across sport, and while cricket can always be doing more to support the LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) community, we hope that supporting marriage equality will send a strong message to the cricket community across Australia that we are a Sport For All.”A portion of the open letter signed by CA read: “We, the business, industry and sporting leaders of Australia, write to express our support for Marriage Equality. We support diversity in the workforce and recognise the rights of our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) employees to live and work, free of prejudice and discrimination, with all the essential freedoms enjoyed by other members of our organisations and the broader community.”The rights and liberties of all individuals are sacrosanct. They are essential in the creation of a healthy, harmonious and open society. An equitable society, free of discrimination, also allows all employees to function at their best. Australia is a robust democracy however, we support seeing it treat all its citizens equally. Legalised discrimination in one area allows discrimination to flourish in all areas.”CA has struck an increasingly progressive tone in recent years, this year downgrading its alcohol sponsorship so that Australian teams will no longer carry the brand of a beer manufacturer in line with a strategic goal to “develop more socially responsible partnerships”. It has also aimed to broaden the game’s audience by being as inclusive as possible, also stating in a recent strategy document: “Grow the number of Australians who feel connected with and passionately support the Big Bash clubs and Australian teams.”

Australian cricket’s long and bitter pay dispute is over, paving the way for the Test tour of Bangladesh to proceed later this month.Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland and the Australian Cricketers’ Association CEO Alistair Nicholson announced the new agreement at a joint press conference in Melbourne on Thursday afternoon. The agreement ends a 10-month negotiation process that became bitter and acrimonious as Cricket Australia sought to dramatically alter the existing pay model by which players shared in the game’s revenue.Australia’s international cricketers and many domestic players have been unemployed since July 1, after CA and the ACA failed to agree on a new Memorandum of Understanding before the expiration of the existing deal. However, those players who were out of contract will be provided with back-pay when the full MoU is completed.The agreement means Australia can honour their upcoming international commitments, including the two-Test tour of Bangladesh, a limited-overs trip to India, and the home Ashes to follow this summer. Sutherland said it was “a great shame” that Australia A’s scheduled tour of South Africa did not proceed last month, but he was pleased that no other elite cricket series had been affected.Sutherland said the deal would allow all state and international cricketers to be contracted immediately, and would mean an increase in pay that ensures Australia’s international players will be the highest-paid of all team sports in the country. The agreement also includes what Nicholson described as “the biggest pay-rise in the history of women’s sport in Australia”.”Today’s agreement is the result of a sensible compromise from both parties,” Sutherland said. “From Cricket Australia’s point of view, we needed to modernise the pay model to provide us with more flexibility to deal with issues facing the game as they come up from time to time. In this regard, the under-funding of grassroots cricket and junior cricket is our highest strategic priority.”We also wanted to introduce a gender equity pay model for women’s cricketers, so that they can also pursue a career in cricket. The ACA and Cricket Australia are delighted to be genuine market leaders in Australian sport in this regard.”This process hasn’t been easy, and history will judge whether it was all worth it in the end. Neither side has got everything that we wanted out of these negotiations, but they shouldn’t be approached with a winner-takes-all mindset.”There’s no denying that the debate itself has at times been difficult and even acrimonious. Relationships within the game have been tested, and I know that’s been a bit of a turn-off for some fans. I think I can speak for Alistair when I say that both parties acknowledge and regret that, and now it’s very much up to us to put that behind us. In announcing this agreement, we’re restoring certainty and beginning to repair relationships, especially with the fans.”I’m very confident that by the time the first ball is bowled this summer, all of this will be well and truly behind us.”Details of the new agreement include: a modernised revenue-sharing formula by which the players will receive 27.5% of forecast revenue; an increase in female player payments from $7.5 million to $55.2 million; and an adjustment ledger that allows funding for grassroots cricket if revenues exceed $1.67 billion.”It’s a very different revenue share model to what was previously the case,” Sutherland said. “It’s been modernised to allow the game more flexibility. The guarantee of player payments is formed on a certain basis. We’ve talked about bringing women’s cricketers into the pay model for the first time. Beyond that, where revenues exceed a certain level of income, it allows the grassroots of the game to share in those surpluses as well.”The new agreement includes a significant rise in women player payments, from $7.5 million to $55.2 million•Getty Images

Nicholson said the players had fought hard to retain a revenue-sharing model because they believed it had worked well in the past.”To have retained the revenue-sharing model and increased the level we have and ensure that men, women, domestic and international players receive a fair share is great news for the players and for the game,” Nicholson said. “It’s right that all players, men and women, will be partners in the game because that’s a fair outcome. It ensures a game with all parties pulling in the same direction.”Success in this negotiation for the ACA was achieving revenue sharing for all players, gender equity, fair remuneration increases, greater input on scheduling and more grassroots investment. We have achieved those things, and on that basis, we recommend to the players that the deal be accepted.”The ACA president, former Test wicketkeeper Greg Dyer, said in a statement that the agreement was ground-breaking for Australian sport”One MOU for men and women, the maintenance of the partnership model, and record investments for grassroots cricket is what we wanted and it’s what has been achieved,” Dyer said. “The men and women have been rewarded for sticking together and for having the courage of their convictions. They have made history and created a legacy for generations of players to come.”In particular, I want to acknowledge the sacrifice of the Australia A team which demonstrated the depth of the resolve of the players to support each other. We also congratulate the players who have bravely made the case in the public domain. It will be important that they are respected for having the courage of their convictions.”There is also a reality to confront. Yes, we’ve arrived at a great place but the game must never again take this same route. The players did not choose this route and did not enjoy being on it. In fact, the players resented it deeply. This was not a fight the players started. The players defended themselves as is fair and as is their right.”The acrimonious nature of the negotiations leaves Australian cricket in need of significant bridge-building in the coming months and years to repair the damage caused to relationships within the game. Sutherland said he was hopeful that both parties could put the dispute behind them.”Time will tell on that,” Sutherland said. “I’d like to think that in many ways, it’s good sport and we can all shake hands at the end of it and move on. It’s been difficult at times for lots of people, and we’ve all been dragged into the middle of it in one way or another. The important thing is to look forward … I’m really confident that those relationships will be strong. It’s our job as administrators to support the Australian players and those in state associations as well.”

By Tuesday evening, no decision had been reached on the next coach of India, despite the Committee of Administrators’ urging the BCCI to make a decision as soon as possibleA BCCI official said the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), which was tasked with finalising India’s new head coach, was yet to arrive at a unanimous choice, but was hopeful that a decision would be made on Tuesday night.”CoA has advised us to that effect and rightly,” the official said. “We are also of the same view.”The official, though, said the BCCI was not pushing the CAC to make a hurried decision. “Nobody is pushing them,” he said. “There is no problem, and they are also equally sensitive to the fact that the conversation should be comprehensive. But it should also be time-sensitive.”The CAC, comprising former India cricketers Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar, had interviewed five candidates in Mumbai on Monday, and said they would make their final decision after speaking with captain Virat Kohli. Ganguly even hinted that India could embark on their tour of Sri Lanka with the current set-up of batting and fielding coaches, but no head coach or bowling coach.ESPNcricinfo understands that CoA chairman Vinod Rai suggested to the BCCI that if a decision had been made it was best to announce the final pick and end all uncertainty and speculation. Rai offered that suggestion once he was told that there was a difference of opinion within the CAC as to when they should finalise their choice.Ganguly indicated that the CAC had not expected the CoA to push so strongly for a quick announcement.”We’ll speak to him. He’s a very respected man, Mr. Vinod Rai, and I will speak to him this afternoon,” Ganguly said. “I was supposed to go to Delhi, so obviously that’s been cancelled now because of this. We’ll speak to him, because what all was announced yesterday was with all permission and everybody was informed about it.”Although the CoA had not been involved in the interview process, it was happy with the CAC’s decision to speak to Kohli on his return from the USA to discuss the issue before announcing the new coach.”The COA was fine with the CAC having a discussion with Virat – not about him getting involved with their decision, but whatever decision they made surrounding the coach,” a BCCI official said. “There is no harm in having a discussion with the captain saying we have gone through a process, this is the individual that we believe is good for the team. These are his views in terms of how he views his role. Hopefully this will work out so that there is no repeat of the Kumble situation. So there is no harm in a having a transparent conversation and then making it public.”

Nearly a year after the Supreme Court judgement approving a majority of the Lodha Committee recommendations, the BCCI has set up a committee of its own to identify “exceptional and extremely limited areas of difficulty” in the implementation of the reforms.The committee’s suggestions will be presented to the Committee of Administrators, a court-appointed panel tasked with running the board until fresh elections under the Lodha guidelines. No CoA representative is part of this new BCCI committee, which was announced during the board’s special general meeting in Mumbai on Monday.

‘Wait till selection of the World XI’

BCCI’s acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary was non-committal when asked if India’s players would be available to participate in a proposed T20 series in Lahore.
The ICC Board, on Friday, extended its support to the idea of a World XI side playing Pakistan in Pakistan as part of efforts to bring international cricket back to the country. Choudhary, however, said it was premature to discuss if India will play any role in it.
“We should wait till the selection of the World XI because it is possible that if those matches are scheduled alongside any of our series than obviously none of our players will be eligible, will they?” he said. “So, we will have to wait for that. I think it’s fair.”

This move seems likely to delay the implementation of the reforms, which were approved by the Supreme Court in July 2016, but the BCCI acting secretary, Amitabh Choudhary, has said it was formed with the intention of examining “how best to quickly implement [the recommendations].” Choudhary stated the committee, whose members will be named on Tuesday, will offer their report in a fortnight.It is understood that apart from Choudhary, who will play the role of the convener, acting board president CK Khanna, treasurer Anirudh Chaudhary and a member from a north-east association are likely to be among the “five or six” members of the committee. They will have to come up with a decision on this matter before July 14, when the Supreme Court is set to hear the case again.”The house deliberated in detail and with a view to completing the implementation process, constituted a committee which will examine how best quickly to implement [the recommendations],” Choudhary told reporters. “The committee should have its first recommendations in a fortnight’s time. So, that’s as far as the implementation of the principal judgment is concerned.””The committee will go into each and every action point necessitated by the principal judgment and then only those exceptional and extremely limited areas of difficulty would bring it to the notice of the CoA, which will thereafter decide the course of action.”Choudhary added that another SGM would have to be convened to approve the proposals of the committee which “will start its work in two days’ time and the rest will follow.”The BCCI is likely to have another special general meeting to approve the proposals put forward by the panel looking into the difficulties of implementing key Lodha reforms.•PTI

The BCCI is inclined towards incorporating most of the Lodha committee’s recommendations, a board official told ESPNcricinfo, except for policies such as the age cap of 70 years for office bearers, the tenure cap of nine years with cooling-off periods in between, the one-state-one-vote policy and the trimming down of the number of selectors from five to three.These recommendations had drawn opposition from the BCCI even before the court’s order last year and on Monday a senior state association official from the west zone indicated nothing had changed. “How can I let go of my vote?” asked the official. “These are the recommendations that the committee will have to sit down and decide on.”Some of the delay in the BCCI adopting the Lodha reforms has been because the state associations are averse to them, but when asked to list the recommendations that have been met with objections, Chaudhary said the board would convey their thoughts to the Supreme Court directly.For a while now, the CoA has urged the board’s member units to identify a few points of objection, which could be raised with the Supreme Court even as the other recommendations were implemented. A CoA official sounded optimistic of the BCCI toeing the Supreme Court’s line after the meeting on Sunday.”They understand that implementing Lodha is not an option [but is mandatory],” he told ESPNcricinfo. “So what is the point in obstructing and dragging it further? What we have told them is if you adopt the report with the two-three points you want the court to consider then the court will also look at it favourably. Otherwise the CoA will be left with no other option than to ask the court to enforce.”

0.5 Rabada to Roy, OUT, got him, steered to slip! Amla holds on this time, low down as a thick edge lobbed off the bat… Another single-figure score for Roy, who was drawn forward by a demanding line, the ball nibbling away down the Lord’s slope and sending England’s tub-thumping opener back to the changing rooms with a whimper1.5 Parnell to Root, OUT, trapped in front! Parnell beats him past the inside edge, booming swing – and England are two down! Lovely shape on that delivery, which started outside off and curled back in as Root aimed a punch down the ground. No hesitation from Michael Gough and it looked pretty plumb3.6 Parnell to Morgan, OUT, lovely bowling, Morgan gone! Parnell is enjoying the famously moribund juicy Lord’s surface, curving the ball away and kissing the outside edge, giving a simple catch to de Kock. Morgan’s brief sally is over and England are wheezing in North Weezy4.1 Rabada to Hales, OUT, England continue to attack… and SA continue to capitalise! Pitched up in the channel, Hales drives and Amla this time tumbles to his left to snap up another catch. A second for Rabada and England are tottering like an MCC member after a day on the port. Somehow that was only Hales’ ball… One he’ll quickly want to forget4.5 Rabada to Buttler, OUT, throws the bat, thick edged to second… England are five down! Superb catch from Faf du Plessis, that went very quickly as Buttler attempted to thrash it through the covers. Not quite as quickly as England are subsiding, but still4.6 Rabada to Rashid, OUT, edged and gone – THIS IS ABSURD!!! Rashid goes for a big, booming drive from his first ball, du Plessis scoops it up low to his left this time… and Rabada is on a hat-trick! Perhaps England are trying to get their shocker out of the way before the Champions Trophy, but this is golden-era awful from a country that knows a fair bit about being rubbish at ODIs

ScorecardMoeen Ali tuned up for England duty with 90•Getty Images

Worcestershire rewrote the record books in completing a 42-run victory over Leicestershire. Put in to bat by on a flat pitch, they hit their highest ever limited-overs score against first-class opposition in a 50-over encounter, surpassing the 320 for 8 against Hampshire at the Rose Bowl in 2008.The tone of their innings was set by Moeen Ali, whose 90 at the top of the order came off 87 balls and included two sixes. The England international was dropped on 22 by wicketkeeper Lewis Hill off Gavin Griffiths, but while he was not quite at his fluent best, was still more than good enough to take full advantage of some inconsistent bowling from Leicestershire’s inexperienced attack.Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Tom Fell and Joe Clarke all leant valuable support Worcestershire raced to 200 off 30 overs. If Leicestershire hoped the dismissal of Moeen, feathering a catch behind the wicket off Zak Chappell, might slow the scoring rate, Brett D’Oliveira and Ben Cox’s partnership of 73 off 10.2 overs disabused them of the notion.Leicestershire did pick up three quick wickets, but John Hastings and Ed Barnard combined to smash 46 off the last 20 balls to maintain the momentum until the end.Leicestershire began as though determined to knock off the runs with overs to spare, but the alert Cox, seeing Cameron Delport had stepped out of his ground after missing an attempt to thrash Leach through the off side, threw down the stumps to pull off a remarkable stumping.Mark Pettini raced to 36 of 34 balls before glancing a Joe Leach delivery into the gloves of Cox, but Mark Cosgrove had hit 67 off just 45 balls before Jack Shantry took a brilliant return catch high above his head.Aadil Ali, making his first first-team appearance of the season, hit three sixes as Leicestershire kept themselves in the hunt, reaching the final six overs needing 67, but wickets kept falling at the other end. Ali was last man out, run out trying to keep the strike.Worcestershire take their 100% record in the competition to Northamptonshire on Wednesday. Leicestershire meet Warwickshire at the Fischer County Ground on Tuesday.

Before the start of the Dharamsala Test, India had a big call to make. They knew their captain, Virat Kohli, was out with a shoulder injury – they now needed to decide whether to replace him with another batsman in a like-for-like swap or to play an extra bowler instead. With Kohli out of the side, India were losing a batsman with 57 Tests and 4497 runs behind him. Playing a batsman in his place may have seemed the safer move, but India went with the fifth bowler, handing Kuldeep Yadav a Test debut.Kuldeep, in the end, was one of the game-changers in India’s series-clinching eight-wicket win. On day one, Australia slumped from 144 for 1 to 300 all out, losing four wickets to Kuldeep’s left-arm wristspin.In his post-match press conference, Kohli revealed that Ajinkya Rahane, India’s stand-in captain, and Anil Kumble, their coach, had made the decision to play Kuldeep.”I spoke to Jinks [Rahane] before the game and he asked me what I feel,” Kohli said. “I said, this is your game, you have to be comfortable with playing four or five bowlers. He instantly said five bowlers, because he understands the workloads of the guys throughout the whole season and to keep pushing two guys to take wickets for you regularly is unfair when the body is tired and it has taken a toll.”So that fifth bowler, that was Anil and Jinks and myself, we all had a discussion. Kuldeep was the X-factor, they hadn’t played him, they hadn’t seen him much, and he turned out to be the difference in the game. I think from 130 for 1 to 300 all out in the same day can really demoralise the opposition.”And I think it was a great call on Jinks’ and Anil ‘s part. Credit to him, he went in with five bowlers and the batsmen took up the responsibility as well. To win Test matches, you need some courage before you start, to take that little bit of risk and play five batsmen, which we’ve done throughout the season on most occasions. It takes more responsibility out of you but that is what it is required of you playing at this level and it was his and Anil ‘s decision eventually to go in with five bowlers and it was the right one in the end.”The first two days of the Test match were neck-and-neck before India pulled away decisively on day three, taking a 32-run first-innings lead before their bowlers combined to roll Australia over for 137. Kohli said he had enjoyed the experience of watching the match from the sidelines, though it had been difficult to sit out.”Well, I jerked my shoulder four times yesterday celebrating outside,” he said. “So that’s how much energy I had and I couldn’t sit in the change room. So it is not nice. I don’t know how many Test matches I’ve played in a row [54]… If it was a strain injury it would have been different, but impact injury really gave me no options. And to start a game at 50% was not fair on the team. That’s the kind of person I have always been and I’ll continue to be.”But yes it was difficult watching from the outside when you have been in the thick of things all the time for the past so many years and seasons. But the most pleasing thing is when you see guys taking the responsibility in your absence and actually going out there to play one of the best ever Test matches that as a viewer you can see. I would call myself a viewer out there. I really enjoyed it. It was not easy to not play this game, but at the end of the day sitting here and having won the series, I have no complaints.”One of the key performers for India was Umesh Yadav, who took out both openers cheaply and finished with three wickets in Australia’s second innings. Those three wickets took his series tally to 17 – the most by any Indian fast bowler in a home series since the turn of the millennium. Kohli was pleased with Umesh’s evolution as a bowler, and said the key factor behind it was how he now understood his own bowling.”I would put him and [Mohammed] Shami together, at par,” when asked if he would rate Umesh as India’s best fast bowler since Zaheer Khan. “On pure pace, striking ability and making dents in the game, he would be at par with Shami.Virat Kohli on Australia: ‘They believed they could win sessions and win situations and that was the most challenging thing for us’•Associated Press

“Obviously, you can’t compare them to Zak [Zaheer] yet because Zak had done it for a longer period of time. But from 2014 to now, Umesh Yadav, the only thing that has changed in him is his mindset. He was always a very fit guy, he probably used to bowl even quicker than he is now, but he has understood his game, become smarter.”He used to bowl 145kph regularly, now he is touching 140kph at odd times but he is very smart with what he wants to bowl in spells. That has been a really, really big difference in his game. Obviously when you give guys confidence, saying, you are my strike bowler, they respond in that way. Then they are not thinking about getting hit for runs or anything of that sort. It is give and take, it takes a combination of a lot of things, but 80% of the credit is Umesh’s for the way he has gone out there and executed it. You can take in all the advice but you have to go out there and do it eventually. Credit to him, the way he has taken his game to the next level. I am really happy for him.”Kohli said he would not get too elated with India’s performance over their home season – 10 wins, two draws and one loss and all four series won – and hoped they could continue to win games consistently overseas as well.”No need to get overexcited with whatever we have done,” he said. “We are very happy with the No.1 ranking in the world, but our main challenge begins now. If we can conquer the overseas season, that’s when you will see a broader smile on my face when I sit down for the press conference. To understand where we are placed and the kind of cricket we have played, and where we stand as individuals at the end of season, it makes me very happy as a captain.”Few had expected Australia to compete as hard as they did through their tour of India, and Kohli said they had been India’s toughest opponents this season.”[India’s planning] was nothing different from what we have done in the past,” Kohli said. “The focus was obviously to maintain our skills, our momentum that we gained throughout the season, and execute that.”I mentioned in the post-match [presentation ceremony], credit to Australia, the way they have played in this series. They have really challenged us really hard and it tested the guys’ character to bounce back from difficult situations many a time.”Especially Jinks, the way he captained in this game was really pleasing to see because it had just been four Test matches since he had come back from his injury and to step up, show that character and lead the side to a win, hats off to him as well. He has really taken the responsibility well and I was really, really happy to see him doing that.”He was also very delighted to be taking that responsibility for the team. These kinds of series, these kind of matches, they build character for the guys. They become very sure of themselves, their games. And when you have seven-eight people in the side who are that sure of their abilities and their mindset, then you become a champion side and you keep that going for a long period of time.”Nothing different from what we have done in the past, it was very similar, but the resistance from the opposition was a lot more compared to the last few series that we have played. Credit goes to the way they played their cricket as well.”Asked why Australia were so competitive, Kohli said they had kept believing they had it in them to win in Indian conditions.”I think they had the belief of making things happen in these conditions, that’s something that I sensed in their body language and the way they played their cricket,” Kohli said. “They believed they could win sessions and win situations and that was the most important thing and the most challenging thing for us. While [other] teams really lose their morale once they lose a Test match in India, they kept bouncing back and they had the desire to compete throughout.”That’s why they are the No. 2 side in the world. You expect that from Australia, once they get a sniff they put you under pressure. But the way we responded, I’m really proud of that as well. I would say their relentlessness and their desire to make things happen in these conditions was probably the reason why they kept giving us a great fight to the end of this Test match. So a lot of credit goes to them.”

Haseeb Hameed will miss MCC’s season curtain-raising fixture against the Champion County, Middlesex, next month, to undergo a sinus operation.Hameed, who made a strong impression in three Test appearances for England against India last year, before leaving the tour early with a broken finger, is currently in Sri Lanka with the England Lions squad.His intention is to play in the second four-day game against Sri Lanka A, which starts in Dambulla on Friday, then head home for surgery.

MCC squad for Champion County match

Alex Lees (Yorkshire), Tom Alsop (Hampshire), Sam Northeast (Kent, captain), Ben Duckett (Northamptonshire, England), Joe Clarke (Worcestershire), Ben Cox (Worcestershire), Lewis Gregory (Somerset), Matt Coles (Kent), Liam Plunkett (Yorkshire, England), Mason Crane (Hampshire), Jack Leach (Somerset)

“It’s something I’ve needed to do for a while, and this is a good time to do it,” said Hameed. “It’s disappointing to miss the chance to play for the MCC against Middlesex, because it was an honour to be selected. But by having the operation in early March, I will be fit for the start of the season with Lancashire.”Hameed has been replaced in the MCC squad by Alex Lees, the Yorkshire opener, who will be joined by his county team-mate Liam Plunkett following the withdrawal of their fellow Yorkshireman, Matt Fisher, who suffered a groin injury when captaining England Under-19s in India earlier this month.John Stephenson, MCC’s Head of Cricket, said: “Of course it is a shame that Haseeb and Matt have had to withdraw from the squad, but we have two excellent replacements in Liam and Alex who will add experience and firepower. Our team is full of exciting young English cricketers and I am really looking forward to seeing them in what should be a very competitive and engaging match.”

With a career-best 5 for 24 to underline his No. 1 ranking in both limited-formats, Imran Tahir seems to have everything he could want at the moment, except maybe one thing.”I wish I could have muscles like him,” Tahir joked, the day before the one-off T20 against New Zealand in Auckland.The person Tahir was referring to was Sonny Bill Williams, the New Zealand rugby player, boxer and signature bad-boy-turned-good, who is a close friend of Hashim Amla. Amla introduced Williams to Tahir and other team-mates including Wayne Parnell two years ago and they make a point of catching up when they’re in the same country, and Tahir is still in awe of Williams’ superstardom.”When I first met him I was shaking because we were walking on a street in Auckland and I could see people’s reaction and I was blown away,” Tahir said. “He stopped for everyone and took pictures. I’ve never seen someone who’s that famous.”Cricketers in South Africa seldom get similarly swamped, not even when they are dominating internationally the way Tahir is, and he knows that a more imposing physique will not change that. “I’m happy with what I am – I’m not jealous of him,” Tahir clarified, amid some giggles. Imagine a Tahir with bulging biceps and thunder thighs.Jokes aside, Tahir’s body will soon come up in discussions about how much longer he will be able to play. He turns 38 next month and has been playing cricket at a high level for two decades but has managed to avoid major injury. Being a spinner, whose action does not cause as much wear and tear as a quick bowler’s would, he is thought to have at least another two to three years, although he has suggested he could keep going for between five and ten. That doesn’t seem so outlandish when considering that Tahir has stayed fit and become more athletic and agile in the field than he was when he first emerged on the international scene.Tahir’s dedication to his craft has only increased as his career has progressed. He maintains that having waited so long to play for South Africa – Tahir moved to the country in the mid-2000s but only become eligible to play for them in 2011, when he was 32 – he wants to hold on to it for as long as he can.And there is maybe one other thing. The IPL auction takes place in three days’ time and this T20 was a last audition for some of the players looking to get deals – though Tahir insisted it was only a passing thought to him. He was released by Delhi Daredevils and has a base price of US$75,000, which is just short of a million South African Rand.Given how well Tahir has been performing recently, he is expected to fetch more than that. So while he may not have the muscles, he could soon boost his earnings by more than a million in one day.

Chris Rogers, the former Australia batsman, is refusing to abandon hope of helping Somerset to a first Championship title.Rogers retired at the end of last season in emotional circumstances as Somerset, Championship leaders going into the last day of the season, watched on TV at their Taunton headquarters as Middlesex stole the prize with a last-gasp victory against Yorkshire.That seemed to be it for Rogers, as far as Somerset were concerned, but he will return as a batting coach and player mentor for the first half of the forthcoming season.As yet, there seems no possibility that Rogers, at 39, will strap on the pads again – even if an obvious opportunity will open up mid-season when Dean Elgar, the batsman signed to replace him, heads off for South Africa’s Test series in England.And if Somerset are harbouring even the tiniest hope that Rogers might make a dramatic comeback they certainly aren’t saying.Matt Maynard, Somerset’s director of cricket, is just delighted that Rogers will be returning to the southwest. “Chris made a massive impact both on and off the field last year,” he said. “He was a huge part of what we achieved in the summer and was by far the outstanding candidate for the position. It goes without saying that we are delighted he will be working with us again in 2017.”He knows exactly what we expect from our players and is familiar with the culture that we have created within the dressing room. He will join us on March 1 and will be with us until June 30 and in that time he’ll act as our batting coach. In addition to that he’ll also work with the whole squad in a mentoring capacity.”The young players will learn a tremendous amount from him and he’ll ensure that the more experienced guys maintain the high standards that they set last year.”Regarding his return Rogers said: “Last year Matt Maynard and I floated the idea of coming back in a coaching capacity if I did retire and I’m greatly appreciative that he and the club have given me this opportunity to work with the players and develop my own skills.”Coaching is something I feel passionate about as well as giving back to the game and I couldn’t think of a better place to start than at Somerset and learning from the staff there.”The club made some significant strides last year and hopefully I can help Somerset achieve some silverware in 2017. It’s nothing more than the supporters deserve.”