Lance Klusener becomes Proteas' assistant batting coach for T20Is against India

Agencies
August 23, 2019

Johannesburg, Aug 23: Former South Africa all-rounder Lance Klusener was on Friday appointed as the assistant batting coach of the national team for the three-match Twenty20 series against India in September.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) also announced that former pacer Vincent Barnes will serve as the assistant bowling coach. While Justin Ontong will retain his position as the assistant fielding coach in Enoch Nkwe's Proteas management.

"In terms of the new team structure the Team Director appoints his three assistant coaches who have specific skills focus in the three key disciplines of batting, bowling and fielding," CSA Acting Director, Corrie van Zyl, said in a statement.

"Former Proteas all-rounder Lance Klusener will fill the role of assistant coach (batting) for the T20 Series only as he is currently not available for all formats."

Klusener, considered one of the best all-rounders of his generation, has collected 1906 runs and 80 wickets in Tests, as well as 3576 runs and 192 wickets in ODIs.

He took up coaching with domestic side Hollywoodbets Dolphins from 2012-2016 before being appointed as batting coach for the Zimbabwe national team.

In July this year, he was appointed as the head coach of the Glasgow Giants for the cancelled inaugural edition of the Euro T20 Slam cricket tournament.

"His record as one of the best all-rounders in the world, particularly in white ball cricket, during his playing career speaks for itself and he also has extensive coaching experience both at franchise and international level," van Zyl said.

Barnes has a long history with the Proteas, having served as the bowling and then assistant coach from 2003 until 2011.

"Vincent Barnes will be the assistant coach (bowling). He also has extensive coaching experience at international level and his knowledge of playing conditions in India will make his contribution invaluable. Vincent currently also fills the role of the HP Bowling Lead for CSA."

Ontong, who has represented the national side in all three formats, also served as South Africa's fielding coach under Ottis Gibson before the restructuring.

"Justin Ontong will fill the role of assistant coach (fielding). He has built up a strong relationship with the players over the last two years and is an acknowledged expert in this department," the statement said.

Van Zyle also said: "Team director Enoch is targeting a batting coach who has extensive knowledge of Indian conditions for the Test series and we will be in a position to announce this successful candidate shortly."

Van Zyl added that all the technical staff -- performance analyst Prasanna Agoram, strength and conditioning coach Greg King and physiotherapist Craig Govender -- will continue in their positions, although Govender will be replaced temporarily for the India tour after he had knee surgery.

South Africa will travel to India for a three-match T20 series starting September 15. The two sides will then compete in a three-match Test series.

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News Network
June 3,2020

Colorado, Jun 3: Formula One boss Chase Carey has said that races will go ahead even if a driver tests positive for coronavirus.

His remarks come as organisers revealed a revised 2020 calendar and the schedule for the first eight races was put in the public domain.

"An individual having been found with a positive infection will not lead to a cancellation of a race. We encourage teams to have procedures in place so if an individual has to be put in quarantine, we have the ability to quarantine them at a hotel and to replace that individual," the official website of Formula One quoted Carey as saying.

"Some things we'd have to talk through and work through. The array of 'what ifs' are too wide to play out every one of them, but a team not being able to race would not cancel the race. I do not think I could sit here and lay out the consequences," he said.

Carey added the organisers will be having the necessary procedures in place so that the race does not get cancelled if a driver ends up testing positive for coronavirus.

"But we will have a procedure in place that finding infection will not lead to a cancellation. If a driver has an infection, teams have reserve drivers available," Carey said.

"We would not be going forward if we were not highly confident we have necessary procedures and expertise and capabilities to provide a safe environment and manage whatever issues arrive," he added.

The Formula One 2020 season will be beginning with the Austrian Grand Prix in July.

F1 currently expects the opening races to be closed events but hopes that fans will be able to attend again when it is safe to do so.

The season will kick off with the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring on July 5, followed a week later by a second race on the same track.

The Hungarian Grand Prix will follow a week after that, before a break. There will be then two back to back races at Silverstone, followed by the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.

The Belgian Grand Prix will follow that, with the Italian Grand Prix at Monza a week later on September 6.

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News Network
January 17,2020

Jan 17: Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza cruised into the women's doubles final of the Hobart International with her Ukrainian partner Nadiia Kichenok here on Friday.

Sania and Kichenok sailed past the Slovenian-Czech pair of Tamara Zidansek and Marie Bouzkova 7-6 (3) 6-2 in the semifinal contest that lasted one hour and 24 minutes.

The fifth-seeded Indo-Ukrainian combination will lock horns with second seeds Shuai Peng and Shuai Zhang of China. The Chinese pair got a walkover after Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens and Alison Van Uytvanck conceded the other semifinal match because of injury.

While Sania and Kichenok had to fight hard in the opening set, the second set was a cakewalk for the combination.

The first set was a tough contest between the two pairs, bringing the tie-breaker into the equation after it was level at 6-6.

In the tie-breaker, Sania and Kichenok upped their game by a few notches to outsmart their opponents and take the lead.

The second set was a no-contest as Saina and Kichenok broke their opponents thrice -- in the second, sixth and eighth game -- to easily pocket the set and a place in the summit clash.

Saina and Kichenok got 11 break chances out of which they converted four, while their opponents utilised two out of the five break chances that came their way.

The 33-year-old Sania is returning to the WTA circuit after two years. During her time away from the game, she battled injury breakdowns before taking a formal break in April 2018 to give birth to her son Izhaan. She is married to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik.

Before the ongoing event, Sania last played at China Open in October 2017.

A trailblazer in Indian tennis, Sania is a former world No.1 in doubles and has six Grand Slam titles to her credit.

She retired from the singles competition in 2013 after becoming the most successful Indian woman tennis player.

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Agencies
March 1,2020

New Delhi, Mar 1: Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif on Sunday heaped praise on Ravindra Jadeja after the all-rounder took a spectacular catch on the second day of the Christchurch Test against New Zealand.

Jadeja grabbed a one-handed stunner at deep square leg in the 72nd over to dismiss Neil Wagner, who had to depart after scoring 21 runs.

"Sir Jadeja for a reason! Jadeja Airlines, flying high! Terrific stuff," Kaif tweeted.

In the match, Jadeja also impressed with the ball. The left-handed bowler took two wickets while giving away 22 runs.

On day two, India bundled out New Zealand on 235 runs in the second Test. However, in their second innings, Indian batsmen again struggled to tackle the New Zealand pacers and lost six wickets with a lead of just 97 runs.

India went to stumps at 90/6, with Trent Boult doing the majority of the damage with three wickets.

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