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The back injury that Faf du Plessis suffered against Bangladesh may keep him out of the day-night encounter against ZImbabwe. Dean Elgar will likely captain the side in his absence

Firdose Moonda18-Dec-2017

South Africa’s Test captain Faf du Plessis is in doubt for the inaugural four-day Boxing Day day-night Test against Zimbabwe, as Cricket South Africa opt for a cautious approach to managing his return from injury.Du Plessis has not played any cricket since late October when he hurt his back during the second ODI against Bangladesh. He was initially prescribed six weeks’ rest. However, at the same time, du Plessis had surgery on a problematic shoulder. As a result, he played no part in the recently concluded Ram Slam and was not named in the CSA Invitation XI to play Zimbabwe in a warm-up match scheduled for Wednesday.Mohammed Moosajee, South Africa’s team manager who is also a medical doctor, told ESPNcricinfo last week that du Plessis was “on track”, but also emphasised that a late decision will be taken given the workload over the next three months.”If we reach next week and see that Faf would benefit from another week off, then we will give him that time,” Moosajee said. “We are not going to be foolish with his return, because there is a lot of cricket over the next few months.”After the Zimbabwe Test, South Africa host India for three-Tests starting on January 5, six ODIs and three T20s and then have a four-Test home series against Australia in March.Given that the South African management prefer their players to have some game time after returning from an injury and before representing the national side, it seems a better option for du Plessis to sit out the Test and perhaps even play in the upcoming domestic one-day tournament which starts on Wednesday. South Africa would have a ready-made batting replacement in AB de Villiers, who will play the warm-up match and has declared himself eager for a Test return. They will also likely turn to stand-in captain Dean Elgar, who led the side at Lord’s when du Plessis was on paternity leave.South Africa are only expected to name their Test squad after at least some of the warm-up match has been played and they have monitored the progress of some of their other players. Dale Steyn and Chris Morris are both due to play in the match and could make a return following significant time out of the game. Morne Morkel, who is coming back from a side strain, is not in the squad but recently played a three-day provincial match for Easterns, with positive reasons. He bowled 19.4 overs and took seven wickets for 43 runs.

Mohammad Irfan has been banned from all forms of cricket for at least six months after he pleaded guilty to failing to report details of two approaches to corrupt the game

Umar Farooq29-Mar-2017

Fast bowler Mohammad Irfan has been banned from all forms of cricket for a year after he pleaded guilty to failing to report details of two approaches to corrupt the game. He can return, however, after six months if he assists the PCB in their ongoing investigations into the PSL corruption scandal, and if he doesn’t breach the board’s anti-corruption code in that time. He has also been fined PKR 1 million. His ban is effective from the day he was provisionally suspended on March 14.A PCB press release said Irfan was found to be in breach of “failing to disclose to the PCB Vigilance and Security Department (without unnecessary delay) full details of any approaches or invitations received by the Participant to engage in Corrupt Conduct under this Anti-Corruption Code.””I was approached twice and it was my mistake that I did not report it to PCB’s anti-corruption unit,” Irfan said at a press conference in Lahore. “I admit my mistake for not reporting. I ask the whole nation to forgive me if anyone is hurt by this mistake of mine.”The ban will come as a blow to Irfan as well as to Pakistan. Though he last played for Pakistan in an ODI last September and had been falling out of favour, he was recalled to the ODI squad in January for the series against Australia. He had to return home almost as soon as he arrived, however, following the death of his mother.Rumman Raees and Mohammad Sami took more wickets than him in the PSL this season, but after an uncertain start following his questioning in relation to the corruption investigation, Irfan looked to be bowling somewhere near his best. Instead, he will now have to hit restart after at least a six-month break, a period in which his only cricketing activity will be to deliver lectures under the PCB’s anti-corruption education programme.Irfan, along with Shahzaib Hasan and Zulfiqar Babar, was initially questioned by the PCB’s anti-corruption unit during the recently-concluded Pakistan Super League, but was allowed to continue playing in the tournament. Earlier this month, however, Irfan was provisionally suspended from all forms after he was summoned to appear before the anti-corruption committee.Shahzaib, provisionally suspended, is also facing charges of having breached the anti-corruption code of conduct and he has till the end of this week to respond. Meanwhile, Irfan’s Islamabad United team-mates Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif are already facing up to a three-man tribunal looking into more serious corruption charges laid against them.

أصدر مجلس إدارة نادي سموحة، بياناً رسمياً اليوم الخميس، بشأن الهزيمة التي تعرض لها الفريق في مباراته أمام غزل المحلة، التي جمعت بينهما ببطولة الدوري المصري الممتاز.

واستضاف فريق سموحة نظيره غزل المحلة، على أرضية استاد الإسكندرية ضمن منافسات الجولة السادسة من عمر الدور الأول ببطولة الدوري.

ونشر نادي سموحة بيانًا على الصفحة الرسمية عبر موقع “فيسبوك” قال فيه: “قرر الجهاز الفنى للفريق الأول لكرة القدم بقيادة أحمد سامى المدير الفني توقيع غرامة قدرها خمسين ألف جنيه على كل لاعب من الذين شاركوا في لقاء غزل المحله مساء اليوم مع إيقاف صرف مستحقات اللاعبين لحين تحسن النتائج”.

طالع أيضاً.. ترتيب الدوري المصري بعد نهاية الجولة السادسة

ونجح فريق غزل المحلة في تحقيق فوز كبير على صاحب الأرض سموحة برباعية مقابل هدفين.

ويحتل فريق غزل المحلة المركز التاسع في جدول ترتيب الدوري المصري برصيد 8 نقاط، فيما يتجمد رصيد سموحة عند 5 نقاط في المركز الرابع عشر.

Tom Curran kept his head in the final over to carry Surrey to a sensational two-run victory in the opening NatWest T20 Blast game of the season at Chelmsford

ECB reporters Network07-Jul-2017
ScorecardFile photo: Tom Curran delivered a matchwinning final over•Getty Images

Tom Curran kept his head in the final over to carry Surrey to a sensational two-run victory in the opening NatWest T20 Blast game of the season at Chelmsford.With Essex requiring 10 off the last six balls, and six wickets in hand, Curran claimed the key wickets of Ravi Bopara and Ashar Zaidi to claim a memorable victory.Bopara’s dismissal off the second ball of the over ended a 46-ball 75, with five sixes, that looked to have put Essex in the driving seat.Earlier Dominic Sibley thumped four sixes in a swashbuckling 61 that enabled Surrey to post a challenging total of 188 after being put in to bat.However, it had looked as though sixes from successive deliveries bowled by Jade Dernbach in the penultimate over by Bopara – one straight, the other over long leg – meant Essex needed less than two runs a ball from the final over.The first ball went for two, but Tom Curran found the extra pace to beat Bopara from the next. With five required off two balls, Curran added the scalp of Ashar Zaidi, bowled to a full-length ball. The boundary required from the final ball as beyond James Foster.Essex had reached 25 in the third over when Varun Chopra left alone a delivery from Tom Curran that pitched outside off-stump and hit middle and leg.’Sibley unbelievable’ – Curran

Tom Curran, Surrey: “That knock from Dom was unbelievable. He’s come in not having played a lot of T20 cricket and he’s made a great stake for a permanent place in the T20 side. I thought he batted beautifully.”

Dan Lawrence, who had hit Sam Curran straight for six, followed soon after when he swished inelegantly at the younger Curran and was caught behind for 13.Tom Westley and Ravi Bopara put on 45 for the third wicket in six overs. But Westley was undone by Scott Borthwick’s first ball, which spun in and bowled him for 23. He had earlier edged Ravi Rampaul for six backward of square and then carted Dominic Sibley over cow corner for a second.Bopara hit Jade Dernbach for a straight six, pulled Rampaul for a second and hooked Borthwick for No3 as Essex accelerated. Rampaul went for 16 from one over, Borthwick for 14 the next as Bopara and ten Doeschate made hay.Bopara scrambled a single into the offside to reach a 43-ball fifty, but the partnership was broken by Sam Curran who trapped ten Doeschate lbw on the front foot. Essex still needed 52 from 26 balls, and 25 from the last two overs.Surrey lost Jason Roy to the fourth ball of the game, lbw to one from Mohammad Amir that swung late, and wickets followed in quick succession throughout, bar a sixth-wicket stand of 55 between Dominic Sibley and Sam Curran.Replacing Amir, two of Paul Walter’s first four deliveries were wayward and signalled as wides, but his third legitimate ball arrowed past Mark Stoneman’s bat and took out middle and leg stumps.Finch had already laid into Jamie Porter with a four through midwicket and a six over long leg off successive balls, and was similarly severe on Ashar Zaidi with a four chipped to deep extra cover followed by another six into the second tier of the stand at long leg.But Zaidi had the last word in his first over, tempting Rory Burns into a reverse sweep and bowling him.Finch reached his fifty from 23 balls with his third six, slogged-pulling Zaidi high over midwicket. But four balls later, in trying to work Bopara down to third man, the Australian top-edged behind for 56.Bopara had a second wicket in his third over when Ollie Pope pulled him to the midwicket boundary where Amir leapt to catch. Surrey had lost half their batting for 86 inside 11 overs.The fifty partnership for the sixth wicket came off 28 balls, before Curran on 25 gave himself room against Walter and lost his leg stump. Sibley lost the other Curran, Tom, to an inswinger from ten Doeschate’s first ball.Sibley reached a valiant half-century from 35 balls with his fourth six, but departed for 61 when he was run out off the last ball. Borthwick had his stumps shattered from a free-hit off Walter, but James Foster had a stump out of the ground before Sibley made his ground.

Rakep Patel, Thomas Odoyo and Jackie Janmohammed have stepped down after the team finished winless in WCL Division Two and was demoted to Division Three

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Feb-2018

Kenya’s captain Rakep Patel has resigned after the team returned home winless from the WCL Division Two tournament in Namibia. The coach Thomas Odoyo has also stepped down, and so has the board president Jackie Janmohammed.By finishing last out of the six teams that participated, Kenya were demoted to Division Three. Their performance included a 218-run defeat, to UAE, which was the tournament’s worst in terms of margin of runs.Odoyo, who was part of the Kenyan team when they played World Cup cricket, found this turn of fortunes quite tough to take. “The one week we spent in Namibia was a week of mental anguish. It was stressful and I would not wish anyone to go through what I went through,” he was quoted as saying by the . “We broke record of poor performance. For Kenya to improve we must set up a high performance centre.”Janmohammed, the first woman to head a cricket board, made her call based on the team’s dismal performance as well. “One of the consideration that I took to account was the performance of the national team and somebody had to take responsibility for it,” she told .Janmohammed said Cricket Kenya would be conducting fresh elections to replace her in a month. “Whenever there a vacancy of an elected member, there must be an election in 30 days. The office will continue until the elections are conducted.”

India’s lower order propelled them to 600 before their bowlers left Sri Lanka five down and 247 short of the follow-on mark at stumps on day two

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy27-Jul-20171:38

Maharoof: Disappointed by Gunathilaka and Mendis dismissals

Swing, seam, pace and bounce. Dip, drift, turn and bounce. Ingredients that seemed largely absent when India piled on 600, their second-highest total in Sri Lanka, haunted the home side in their reply, as they ended the second day of the Galle Test five down with the follow-on mark still 247 runs away.Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami took the top order apart, even as Upul Tharanga hurtled along with a profusion of silken off-side boundaries. Then came R Ashwin, going around the wicket to left and right-handers alike, harnessing the sea breeze and testing both edges with drift, swinging arm balls, and the occasional instance of sharp turn. Over the course of an unbroken spell of 18 overs, he gradually discovered the ideal pace and angle of seam to extract the maximum possible help from the Galle pitch, and could have easily ended the day with more than one wicket.Umesh gave India their first breakthrough, in the second over of Sri Lanka’s innings. Swing did Dimuth Karunaratne in, a full ball curling back into the left-hander from over the wicket and forcing him to play around his front pad. He missed and reviewed Bruce Oxenford’s lbw decision, a wasted referral given there was no inside edge, and that the ball had pitched on middle stump and had straightened down that line.R Ashwin got drift and dip to be a constant threat•AFP

For a time, Danushka Gunathilaka, making his Test debut, matched Tharanga shot for shot, as the two left-handers drove repeatedly on the up during a second-wicket partnership of 61 at just under five an over. But he played one shot too many, feet rooted to the crease as he flashed at, and edged, a Shami delivery angled across him.Kusal Mendis, in at No. 4, had the misfortune of getting a Shami special when he was still to get off the mark. It hit the seam in the corridor, seamed away slightly with some extra bounce, and all he could do was nick it. Two times in five balls, Shikhar Dhawan was the catcher at first slip.The next two wickets fell during Ashwin’s long and endlessly tormenting spell. The first began with his drift and dip beating Tharanga in the air. Having jumped out of his crease and inside-edged into his pad, he turned and hurried back as the ball rolled towards Abhinav Mukund at silly point. Abhinav flicked the ball to the keeper, and when the bails came off, Tharanga’s bat, after a momentary grounding on the dive, had bounced up. A cruel end to an innings of 64 and a 57-run fourth-wicket stand with Mathews.Then came the wicket of another left-hander, Niroshan Dickwella, who pressed forward but found himself nowhere near the pitch of the ball, thanks to Ashwin’s dip. Extra bounce grabbed the shoulder of his jabbing defensive bat, and Mukund, diving right at silly point, took a superb, low one-hander.Mathews struggled initially against Ashwin, and on 32 survived an lbw decision reviewed by India when ball-tracking returned an umpire’s call verdict. He slowly grew in assurance, and ended the day batting on 54 with Dilruwan Perera for company. With Asela Gunaratne, who fractured his left thumb on the first day, unlikely to bat, Sri Lanka have quite a task ahead of them.An improved bowling display from Sri Lanka, led by Nuwan Pradeep, who finished with 6 for 132, threatened at various points to limit India’s total. But the lower order, led by Ashwin and the debutant Hardik Pandya, kept counter-punching.India lost both their overnight batsmen, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, inside 12 overs of the morning, both out to seam. Away-seam and extra bounce from Nuwan Pradeep found Pujara’s edge on 153, while Rahane, driving away from his body at a rare full ball from Lahiru Kumara, edged to slip.Despite the selection of Pandya, India stuck with Ashwin and Wriddhiman Saha at Nos. 6 and 7, trusting their experience and proven firefighting abilities ahead of the debutant’s promise. Ashwin and Saha had put on three fifty partnerships and one double-century stand, and averaged 47.50 as a pair since the start of 2016. They combined once again to stall Sri Lanka’s momentum, adding 59 for the sixth wicket.Not for the first time in his career, Ashwin began finding the gaps almost as soon as he walked in, and took three fours from successive Herath overs, twice driving him through the off side and once stepping out to clip him between midwicket and mid-on. In all, he would hit seven fours in a 60-ball 47.Both fell in the space of six balls, with lunch imminent, and when Pradeep took his sixth wicket after the break, cleaning up Ravindra Jadeja with the bouncer-yorker double, Sri Lanka may have hoped for a quick end to the innings.As it turned out, India’s last two wickets added 83 in 71 balls in a burst of six-hitting. The quicks leaked runs in an effort to pepper the lower order with the short ball, and Herath kept get hitting back over his head, notably by Mohammed Shami who hit him for three sixes. Pandya hit three sixes too, all off Pradeep, two hooked over backward square leg and one whipped over midwicket.The dismissal of Shami, caught on the square-leg boundary off Kumara, ended a ninth-wicket stand of 62, but Sri Lanka’s ordeal wasn’t yet over. Umesh Yadav, India’s No. 11, also joined in the hitting spree, taking Kumara for a big six down the ground and Herath for the lofted four that brought up India’s 600.Pandya, who had brought up his half-century, off 48 balls, in the same Herath over, fell soon after, finding deep square leg while going after another short ball from Kumara.

Claire Polosak to stand with Paul Wilson in the List A contest between New South Wales and a Cricket Australia XI at Hurstville Oval on Sunday

Daniel Brettig04-Oct-2017Claire Polosak was a Goulburn teenager with a love of cricket when a schoolmate gave her a new idea for getting involved in the game. “A friend came to school with a flyer and she said ‘Dad says you like cricket, you should give this a go’,” Polosak said. “She thrust the flyer into my face and it was a course for umpiring. So I thought ‘oh I’ll give this a go’ and it grew from there.”From that abrupt introduction, her career did indeed grow, to the point that Polosak, 29, will on Sunday become the first woman to officiate as an on-field umpire in an Australian domestic men’s fixture – standing with Paul Wilson in the List A contest between New South Wales and a Cricket Australia XI at Hurstville Oval.In doing so, she will join the likes of Kathy Cross (New Zealand), Jacqueline Williams (West Indies) and Sue Redfern (England) as women to have umpired at the men’s first-class level. Polosak’s progress also follows significant progress for female officiators in other sports. In May, the South Australian Eleni Glouftsis became the first woman to stand as a field umpire in an AFL men’s match.”A little bit nervous, but if you don’t have a little bit of nerves, you don’t care,” Polosak said in Sydney. “So it’s all about getting all the butterflies going in the same direction. Planning on going out there and having my routines, get through the first ball and go through it from there. I love the challenge, watching balls, being out there, the camaraderie between umpires as you’ve come through is really good, it’s a family, the challenge of having to answer decisions is always good.”I never played cricket, but I always followed cricket, and my parents got me into it [umpiring], Dad used to drive me up from Goulburn to do the umpires course here. It took a few times to pass but it was something I was determined to do and I just kept working through the grades in Sydney competition.”I got a phone call from Simon Taufel [to say I would umpire on Sunday]. I followed Simon when I was a lot younger growing up, he was at his peak, so to have the phone call from him was quite special.”Having umpired men’s and women’s matches extensively, Polosak is in a unique position to compare and contrast. She has found that the women’s game can be more difficult to judge as the high standard of fielding often catches out runners between the wickets, while the greater speed of the ball in men’s matches means that nicks off the edge of the bat can be more easily heard. But either way, she is yet to meet an angry fast bowler or irritated captain she has not been able to “deal with”.Equally, Polosak has not yet joined other colleagues in wearing much in the way of protective equipment when standing. “Cricket Australia is very open to if you want to wear a helmet or protective equipment, they’re happy to provide that,” she said. “At the moment I’m fortunate that I haven’t been in that situation. But if you’ve got good positioning and watching the ball, hopefully that reduces your chance of any injury.”Asked whether her pathway had been anymore difficult than for a male equivalent, Polosak paused. “A bit hard to tell, as I’ve come through the grades, I’ve come through at the same speed that players have, so now in first grade in Sydney I’ve seen players I’ve worked with all the way through, so I’m not a novelty anymore,” she said. “The way the appointments work are based on merit, so I can never ask for anything extra.”I’ve probably had to work a little bit harder [than men] but it’s all part of the enjoyment, and being able to do well makes it even better.It just shows there is a pathway now, there are increased opportunities. Cricket Australia and Cricket NSW are really increasing the amount of support available for female umpires, and I think that’s showing in other sports as well.”In addition to her own umpiring, Polosak works in female engagement and umpire education at Cricket NSW, where she is intent on building the number of females coming through the ranks of the game’s arbiters. “We’re looking to improve the numbers,” she said. “There’s now an increased awareness of women’s sport and an increased pathway so it’s really exciting.”As for whether the road, that started with that flyer waved in her face, can lead to standing in a Test match, Polosak said she was not putting any limitations on what could be achieved. “There always is [a dream to umpire a Test match],” she said, “but if you ask players or referees from any sport, you just want to go to the highest possible opportunity that you can.”

سجل فريق برشلونة هدفه الأول في شباك أتلتيكو مدريد، في مباراتهما الجارية حاليًا، في إطار منافسات بطولة الدوري الإسباني.

ويستضيف ملعب “مونتجويك” مباراة الفريقين في الجولة الثامنة عشر من الليجا، 2024/25 (لمتابعة اللقاء من هنا).

ونجح برشلونة في تسجيل هدفه الأول في شباك الضيوف، أتلتيكو مدريد، في الدقيقة 30 من عمر الشوط الأول.

الهدف جاء عن طريق بيدري، بعد سلسلة من التمريرات المتبادلة بين لاعبي برشلونة، انتهت بتمريرة من جافي إلى بيدري، ليسددها الأخير وتسكن الشباك تحت يد الحارس يان أوبلاك. هدف بيدري في مباراة برشلونة وأتلتيكو مدريد

A failure to take early wickets during the Sri Lanka innings was behind Bangladesh’s defeat, according to captain Mashrafe Mortaza

Mohammad Isam01-Apr-2017

Mashrafe Mortaza suggested the lack of an early breakthrough made his bowling unit impatient and defensive in their 70-run loss to Sri Lanka in Colombo. Bangladesh conceded 76 runs in the first ten overs before Mehedi Hasan broke the opening partnership in the first over of the second Powerplay.There were, however, a few more twists and turns in the third ODI, which Mashrafe later acknowledged as pivotal to his side only drawing the series from a position of being 1-0 ahead.Danushka Gunathilaka and Upul Tharanga gave Sri Lanka their fast start before Kusal Mendis worked hard to keep the run rate above five an over during his 76-ball 54. But when he fell in the 37th over and then Sri Lanka lost Asela Gunaratne and Seekugge Prasanna, their scoring rate slowed down and Bangladesh edged back into the game – only for it to slip out of their hands again in the last six overs, as Thisara Perera and Dilruwan Perera helped add another 59 runs.Selectors stick by XI

Mashrafe Mortaza approved of the consistent selection during the ODI series after the same XI was picked in all three games. This was the first time in Bangladesh’s history that the same XI played in all three games of a three-match series against a higher-ranked side.
“In the New Zealand series we made changes in every game. Confidence of players went down, and [they] started to feel insecure. It is a good thing that we were consistent in Sri Lanka. Everyone understood their role. I hope the team will remain on their toes in Ireland.”

Mashrafe said that early breakthroughs in the first two ODIs meant the Bangladesh attack could bowl according to their plans but as soon as Tharanga and Gunathilaka started charging at the bowlers, the switch from an attacking mindset began and was evident even in those last six overs.”I don’t think it was nervousness [in the first ten overs] but we did use up five bowlers during that period,” Mashrafe said. “We weren’t as disciplined as we were in the first two games. I think we tried a few more things because we weren’t getting what we wanted early on. We didn’t judge the wicket properly in regards to our areas.”We went into defensive mode as soon as we had one or two bad overs. It created more problems. We should have stuck to our attacking mode like we did in the last two games. I think we moved away from that plan.”But he also felt that a poor start with the bat, chasing 281 runs, and their inability to sustain the recovery also didn’t help. Bangladesh slumped to 11 for 3 in the fourth over after which Shakib Al Hasan and Soumya Sarkar added 77 runs for the fourth wicket. But what compounded their difficulties was the 16 runs between Mosaddek Hossain and Mahmudullah, who looked in fine touch in the first ODI.”When we played the practice match, we understood that the Colombo wicket becomes flatter in the second half,” Mashrafe said. “They perhaps made 20 runs more, but if you follow Miraz’s batting [Mehedi made 51 at No. 8] you could see clearly that the wicket didn’t have anything.”Perhaps the new balls swung from both ends but Soumya and Shakib could have dragged on their partnership a bit further and if the next two batsmen could have made a big contribution, we could have won the game. We needed 70-odd off the last 36 balls, so I think if we had wickets in hand, things would have been different for us.”But he said that they would take lessons from such games where they had to fight back from a difficult position. “We made a comeback as a bowling group in this game, having done poorly in the first ten overs,” he said. “I think we bowled well in the first ten overs in the second ODI in Dambulla, but still went on to concede 300-plus total. It is a lesson for us, how to turn around from a bad start.”

Joe Root, the England captain, was admitted to hospital in Sydney, suffering from severe dehydration

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jan-20181:59

Root showed courage to come out and bat – Smith

Joe Root, the England captain, was admitted to hospital in Sydney, suffering from severe dehydration, amid doubts as to whether he would be fit to resume his rearguard in the fifth and final Test at the SCG.In the end, Root did appear during the morning session, batting for an hour and taking his overnight 42 not on to 58 at lunch. However, he was again unable to continue after the interval and did not attend the post-match presentations after England were dismissed for 180 to lose by and innings.”He’s not had any sleep. He’s not eaten. He’s had diarrhoea and he’s been vomiting, so I guess he’s not in great state,” James Anderson, England’s vice-captain, said. “To get to the ground was a great effort, and to strap his pads on and bat for as long as he did was a brilliant effort and showed exactly what sort of character he is.”He wants to lead by example in this team. He’s been a fantastic captain on this tour and it shows what sort of person he is to make that sort of effort to get out on the field. I just hope it’s not too serious and he can sleep it off now and get better before the one-dayersRoot, who batted for three hours on fourth day, had been in the field for all but six overs of the hottest day on record for a Test match in Australia. Temperatures in some parts of Sydney reached 47.3C, the highest in the city for 79 years.Root succumbed to bouts of diarrhoea and vomiting overnight, and did not arrive at the ground until after the start of play. It was later announced by the ECB that Root was suffering from a viral gastroenteritis bug, rather than the effects of heat exhaustion.A groggy-looking Joe Root takes on fluids•Getty Images

Already 3-0 down in the series, England were precariously placed on 93 for 4 overnight, needing another 210 runs to make Australia bat again. Moeen Ali took the field alongside Jonny Bairstow at the start if play but Root was fit enough to resume his innings after Moeen’s dismissal on the hour mark, and soon moved to his fifty.Asked how Root had found the tour, Anderson said: “I imagine extremely difficult. Ask any captain who has toured Australia, it’s not an easy place to come. Especially when on wrong end of results. The way he’s carried himself has been a credit to himself. He’s been fantastic the whole way through, as a guy he’s not looked down at any stage. He’s led the guys brilliantly both on and off the field. He should be very proud of what he’s done on this trip.”Before it was made clear that Root was affected by a virus, there had been speculation about the damaging effects of playing in high temperatures. Dean Jones, the former Australia batsman who famously ended up on a drip after making 210 in oppressive heat during the tied Test in Madras in 1986, stated on Twitter that the sport needs to take the issue of exposure to extreme conditions more seriously.”After speaking to a couple of doctors this morning.. in my opinion cricket should be called off after 41C," Jones wrote. "It’s a workplace issue now.. just my opinion.”