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Steve Patterson again proved himself to be a reliable component of Yorkshire’s attack as Worcestershire struggled to avoid the follow-on at Scarborough

ECB/PA20-Jul-2015
ScorecardSteve Patterson took three Worcestershire wickets•PA Photos

Steve Patterson was the pick of the five-strong pack of fast bowlers as Yorkshire steadily built up a position of strength over Worcestershire on the second day of the LV= County Championship match at Scarborough.At the close Worcestershire had worked hard to reach 195 for 6 in reply to the Champions’ first innings score of 430 – and three of the wickets had been claimed by Patterson.Ryan Sidebottom, Jack Brooks, Tim Bresnan and Liam Plunkett may grab the headlines more regularly than the ever-reliable Patterson but his consistency and economy rarely desert him.And it was his length and line and inward movement that again stood him in good stead as Worcestershire fought gallantly but still lost wickets just when batsmen appeared to be well set.Only 19-year-old Joe Clarke, in his sixth match, really got established and he remained unbeaten on 76 to overhaul his previous best score of 70 made against Hampshire last week.Openers Daryl Mitchell and Richard Oliver safely negotiated the first five overs of the innings up to lunch and they had moved their stand to 32 before Oliver edged a drive at Brooks and was superbly caught by Plunkett moving smartly to his right at fourth slip.Patterson, coming on as second change, nipped one back to have Mitchell lbw for 14 the first ball after a short break for rain and a promising innings of 30 from Tom Fell ended when he edged Plunkett to Jack Leaning at second slip.Clarke built up his score in unflustered fashion but in a new spell from the Peasholm Park end Patterson struck twice to leave Worcestershire on 119 for 5. Brett D’Oliveira nibbled outside off-stump for Jonny Bairstow to take the catch and Ross Whiteley also edged to Leaning in the arc of slips.In rapidly fading light, Adil Rashid joined the attack and his long hop was struck for six by Clarke immediately before the players were off for an early tea and the loss of 16 overs. Three balls into the resumption, bad light caused a further four-over stoppage but the ground was then bathed in sunlight for the remaining 14.3 overs.Clarke completed a valiant 50 off 75 balls with two fours and a six but shortly before the close his 56 stand with Ben Cox ended when the wicketkeeper clipped Brooks low to Rashid at mid-wicket.Although Yorkshire were in a strong position at 357 for five off 88 overs when they resumed in the morning with Andrew Gale on 127, they still had to work hard to make it to maximum batting points.While Gale struggled to find his fluency of the previous day, wickets toppled at the other end, Joe Leach starting the slide with the dismissal of Bresnan before the persevering Charlie Morris chipped in with three wickets for one run in the space of 13 balls.Yorkshire were 391 for 9 in the 103rd over when last man Sidebottom joined his captain who raised the 400 for a fifth batting point by working Leach to the long-leg boundary.The innings was wound up by Jack Shantry who had Gale caught by Mitchell for 164 from 297 deliveries with 19 boundaries, Leach finishing with four for 139 and Morris three for 90.North Marine Road is a happy hunting ground for Gale who has now scored 815 in his last seven Championship innings at the venue.

A round-up of the Caribbean T20 matches played at Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad on January 9

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Jan-2013
ScorecardJamaica earned their first victory of the Caribbean T20 by defending a moderate total in a shortened match at Queen’s Park Oval. Having made only 116 for 6 in 17 overs, Jamaica derailed a Windward Island chase that was progressing smoothly at 65 for 2. Tamar Lambert, the sixth bowler Jamaica used, took three wickets in the 11th over to reduce them to 66 for 5. Windward Islands wicketkeeper Lindon James scored an unbeaten 24 off 15 balls but got no support from the lower order and they finished on 104 for 9 in 17 overs.Jamaica’s total had been built around Danza Hyatt’s 44 after they were sent in to bat. Only two other batsmen got into double figures, Lambert making 16 and debutant Andre McCarthy 19. Garey Mathurin took 2 for 18 and there were two more run-outs as Windward Islands kept Jamaica to 116 for 6, but the total proved a few too many.
ScorecardTrinidad & Tobago’s second victory of the Caribbean T20 was a crushing one, their batsmen amassing a formidable total before their bowlers stifled Leewards Islands at Queen’s Park Oval.T&T opener Lendl Simmons made 62 and Darren Bravo contributed 65, both batsmen hitting five sixes in their innings to lead their team to 187 for 4. Pollard’s cameo was vital too; he made 29 off 12 balls. Tonito Willet, who took 2 for 18, was the only Leeward Islands bowler to go at less than six runs an over.No T&T bowler, on the other hand, had an economy rate of more than six runs an over. Legspinner Samuel Badree, who opened the bowling, Yannick Ottley and Kieron Pollard took two wickets each, pegging Leeward Islands back at regular intervals. Badree struck twice in the first over and Leeward Islands never recovered from 4 for 2. Later on, they lost three wickets for four runs to slip to 66 for 7. Chesney Hughes was the top scorer with 20 and only two of his team-mates got into double figures as Leeward Islands were restricted to 92 for 8 in 20 overs.

A round-up of the second round of phase two matches in the National Cricket League

Mohammad Isam21-Dec-2011The match between Khulna and Sylhet ended in a draw in Chittagong and both teams remained in contention for the final.During the game, Enamul Haque jnr became the first Bangladesh bowler to take 300 first-class wickets when he picked up Khulna’s last second-innings wicket on the fourth morning. Al-Amin Hossain drove straight to Shaker Ahmed at mid-off to give Enamul the milestone. The next best is Mohammad Sharif with 272 wickets and Mohammad Rafique who has 237. Enamul finished the match with 7 for 171.After opting to bat, Khulna made 301 for 9 before declaring their first innings. Mithun Ali hammered 109 off 106 balls while the captain Tushar Imran struck a half-century. Sylhet replied poorly, declaring with a 50-run deficit on 251 for 9. Mithun scored a second ton in the game to become the fourth Bangladesh batsman to score two hundreds in a first-class game (after Minhazul Abedin, Javed Omar and Shahin Hossain). His innings, this time off 160 balls, led Khulna to 274, setting Sylhet a target of 322.Dollar Mahmud reduced Sylhet to 0 for 2 and then 30 for 4 before Rajin Saleh scored a half-century to lead his team to a draw.Centuries from Junaid Siddique and Jahurul Islam helped Rajshahi secure a nine-wicket victory against Dhaka Metropolis at the Sylhet Stadium.Saqlain Sajib took 5 for 59, while Mukhtar Ali claimed 4 for 47, to dismiss Dhaka Metropolis for 201 in their first innings. Junaid and Jahurul then made 161 and 167 as the defending champions Rajshahi declared on 404 for 5, with a 203-run lead.Mehrab Hossain jnr scored a century in Dhaka Metropolis’ second innings, but there was little support for him apart from Mohammad Ashraful’s 69. Farhad Reza and Mukhtar Ali took four wickets each to dismiss the Dhaka side for 274, leaving Rajshahi’s batsmen with a target of 72. They chased it down in 10.3 overs.

Darren Sammy, the West Indies captain, was happy to see his inexperienced side settle for a 0-0 draw against Sri Lanka despite bad weather hampering the three-Test series

Sa'adi Thawfeeq in Pallakele05-Dec-2010Darren Sammy, the West Indies captain, was happy to see his inexperienced side settle for a 0-0 draw against Sri Lanka despite bad weather hampering the three-Test series. “When we left, we said we will settle for a draw or a win. Despite the weather, which has been totally out of our control, the one Test match where we had five days of cricket (at Galle) we basically dominated,” Sammy said.”We all like to see cricket being played. When we left, everyone said 15 days of good competitive Test cricket. But that was not to be due to the weather. It can be frustrating. Sometimes you are on and off. You prepare yourself mentally then you know you have to be focused again. But as professionals, you do a job whenever you are called up.”Sammy said West Indies took a lot of positives out of the series and were looking to build on them for the future. One of the positives was the batting of debutant Darren Bravo who made fifties in each of the three Tests in his maiden series. “Young Bravo scoring fifties in all three Tests. The bowling of Kemar Roach, the batting of Chris Gayle and the whole fighting spirit the team showed are positives for us throughout the series.””The way we went out and played one of the top three sides it was good coming down to Sri Lanka and doing well. When I left home, we knew it was going to be a tough series. But the players have made my job very easy.”Captaining West Indies for the first time was an honour, Sammy said, but felt that there was scope for progress on all fronts. “The cricket we played there were a lot of positives but there is still a lot of room for improvements. I am learning to do my job efficiently and I would like to see personal improvements.”Sammy said that his team would now concentrate on trying to win the five-match one-day series which commences at Hambantota on December 9. “Sri Lanka is coming after a series win in Australia for the first time. It’s another opportunity for us to show what we are capable of doing.”

Cameron White, the Australian allrounder, will rejoin his old county Somerset for the 2010 Twenty20 Cup

Cricinfo staff08-Jan-2010Cameron White, the Australian allrounder, will rejoin his old county Somerset for the 2010 Twenty20 Cup.White was last at Taunton in 2006 and was Somerset’s leading run-scorer in the Championship, scoring 1190 runs at 59.50 in Division Two. Remarkably his strike-rate was 81.45 through the season and it is his big-hitting ability that Somerset will want for the Twenty20 Cup.White, 26, has now become a regular member of Australia’s one-day team, which means he will be not be available for the entire season as Australia are playing five ODIs against England in June and July.Nevertheless, Somerset are thrilled to welcome back a player who once hit 141 not out in a Twenty20 Cup match against Worcestershire. “With his status as one of the world’s best one-day players, it’s an exciting prospect,” said Brian Rose, Somerset’s director of cricket.”He may only be able to make some limited appearances because of his commitments to Australia. We think he can play in the first six or seven games and certainly from the quarter-finals to the finals if we get that far.”I think the Somerset cricketing public remember Cameron playing some fantastic innings in one-day cricket, but he also played some of the best first-class knocks I’ve ever seen.”

The ECB has succeeded in its goal of selling stakes in eight Hundred franchises. Here’s how it all stands

Matt Roller13-Feb-2025What are investors actually buying?
Each successful bidder has bought shares in one of the eight teams in the Hundred, the ECB’s 100-ball competition which launched in 2021. The deals are subject to exclusivity agreements over the next eight weeks – in the event an agreement with the chosen investor is not reached in that time period, the team will go back on the market.And who has bought what?

• Reliance Industries Limited, the Ambani-owned conglomerate who run Mumbai Indians, are buying a 49% stake in Oval Invincibles. Surrey will retain 51%.
• Knighthead Capital, a New York-based investment firm, are buying a 49% stake in Birmingham Phoenix. Warwickshire will retain 51%.
• Cricket Investor Holdings Limited, a consortium of Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs, are buying a 49% stake in London Spirit. MCC will retain 51%.
• Sanjay Govil, an Indian-American tech entrepreneur and the owner of Washington Freedom, is buying a 50% stake in Welsh Fire. Glamorgan will retain 50%.
• RPSG Group, Sanjiv Goenka’s conglomerate who run Lucknow Super Giants, are buying a 70% stake in Manchester Originals. Lancashire will retain 30%.
• Sun Group, the media conglomerate who own Sunrisers Hyderabad, are buying 100% of Northern Superchargers. Yorkshire will not retain a financial interest.
• Cain International, backed by Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly, and Ares Management Credit, both private equity firms, are jointly buying a 49% stake in Trent Rockets. Nottinghamshire will retain 51%.
• GMR Group, the Indian conglomerate which co-owns Delhi Capitals, are buying a 49% stake in Southern Brave. GMR are also taking over host county Hampshire.

How will the deals work?
The ECB say the investors have committed to a minimum five-year period, which will run through to the end of 2030. The deals do not include a franchise fee like those paid annually by IPL franchises to the BCCI.Do they know own the teams outright?
It’s complicated. The ECB has sold its 49% interest in each team, while the eight host clubs had the choice whether to sell some, all, or none of their 51% stakes. The majority have opted to retain their shares, but three have sold at least some, and Yorkshire are selling their entire share to the Sun Group.Related

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But they’re not buying the counties?
No. The majority of counties remain members’ clubs, and the sales process relates only to the ownership of the eight Hundred teams – not their host clubs or their venues. That said, it could open the door for further investment down the line, with the GMR Group becoming the first foreign owners of a county last year when they bought Hampshire.What happens to the money raised by selling the ECB’s stakes?
Ten percent of the revenue will be invested in recreational cricket. The rest will be split as follows: the first £275 million is divided 19 ways between the 18 first-class counties and MCC; the next £150m is divided 11 ways between the non-host counties; and anything over £425m is divided 19 ways again. The Raine Group, Deloitte and the ECB’s lawyers will also take a percentage for their role in the sale.And what happens when a host club sells some of their stake?
The host club keeps 80% of the revenue raised from selling its own stake, with 10% going to the recreational game and the rest shared among the other counties (and MCC).What does 49% of a Hundred franchise actually get you?
It depends. Investors have been speaking to counties for some time, and arrangements will be different at each venue. Each investor has an eight-week exclusivity period with their host county in which they will sign legal agreements and contracts outlining the details of their joint-venture. But the franchise itself represents two teams (men’s and women’s) with a right to play in the Hundred, rather than any tangible assets like a stadium.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

How will they make money?
The Hundred teams have been run by the ECB to date, but will now take control of their own sponsorship, ticket sales (including hospitality) and merchandise. The biggest source of revenue will be a central distribution from the ECB, with the eight Hundred teams set to split 80% of domestic and international TV rights between them. Investors will also hope that the enterprise value of their franchise increases as the Hundred grows.How valuable is the broadcast deal as things stand?
The Hundred forms part of the ECB’s deal with Sky Sports for all cricket during the English summer, including internationals and county cricket. Around a quarter of the overall value of that deal (£51 million approx. annually) is ascribed to the Hundred. There has also been a much smaller deal with the BBC (as free-to-air broadcasters) which is up for renewal. The ECB may consider selling the Hundred’s broadcast rights separately from 2029. It also hopes that international TV rights will rise significantly in the next rights cycle.Will the teams be renamed?
Probably, although not this year. The ECB is treating the 2025 edition of the Hundred – which runs from August 5-31 – as a transitional season, with new owners assuming full responsibility ahead of the 2026 edition. Some teams may retain their names and kits but the expectation is that several will change, particularly those who are majority-owned by established franchise brands.Could it be MI Oval from 2026?•Getty Images

Will this investment mean the Hundred gets better players?
Quite possibly, for a number of reasons. Salaries are increasing at the top end in 2025 and the ECB told investors that they should prepare for them to be even higher when they take over. New ownership could also see players who are associated with a particular franchise involved in the Hundred, while the overlap between investors in the Hundred and Major League Cricket should ensure those leagues do not clash again going forwards.What about Indian players?
Several women’s cricketers from India have already played in the Hundred, including Jemimah Rodrigues, Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma, but no male Indian player has. While the involvement of four IPL ownership groups could help to prompt change in time, the ECB has been working on the belief that the BCCI is not planning to change its stance on active Indian men’s players featuring in overseas leagues.When will the Hundred become a T20 competition?
The 100-ball format has generally proved popular with broadcasters, allowing them to fit games into a three-hour window. But there has been plenty of speculation that the tournament could change to the more familiar T20 format at some stage. In practice, the format is highly unlikely to change before the existing broadcast deal runs out at the end of the 2028 season.On an ECB call to mark the conclusion of the process, Vikram Banerjee, director of business operations, said: “The aspects of the Hundred that have worked well in terms of reaching out to a new market, the fact that it finishes at 9.30pm so families can attend and watch – all those sorts of things are part of what’s appealed to investors. So at this point in time, we haven’t had a huge amount of clamour for changing the format.”Will more teams be added?
Similarly, this is unlikely to happen in the next four years – though several counties have expressed an interest in hosting a Hundred team if the tournament does expand in future, including Durham, Somerset, Kent (at Beckenham) and Gloucestershire. Richard Gould, the ECB’s chief executive, said last summer that there is ambition for expansion at some point.Banerjee said on Thursday: “Expansion is a good sign if it happens, so I’ll be delighted if it does… If the tournament grows and cricket grows across the country, then it’ll be almost a no-brainer.”

These pitches, he said, neither allowed their batters to be in top hitting form, nor taught their spinners how to handle conditions that required them to work harder

Madushka Balasuriya12-Nov-20232:01

Silverwood: ‘We need a proper plan for the next cycle’

As the Sri Lanka squad arrived home after a disappointing 2023 World Cup, consultant coach Mahela Jayawardene attributed much of the team’s struggles the types of tracks being produced for domestic cricket in Sri Lanka. These pitches, he said, neither allowed their batters to be in top hitting form heading into the World Cup on flatter decks in India, nor taught their spinners how to handle conditions that required them to work harder for their wickets.Sri Lanka finished ninth on the points table, meaning they do not qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy. In the five instances where they batted first, they were able to breach the 280-run mark only once, against Pakistan.”We knew that when we went to India, looking at the wickets, that we had to play at a very high tempo, which we discussed with the batters,” Jayawardene said. “It was something that they were not used to, particularly leading up to the World Cup did not allow us to do that – and most of the surfaces that we play in Sri Lanka.Related

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“In domestic cricket we play on pretty slowish wickets so the batters aren’t going to trust their shot selection on good wickets, because they’re not used to that, against high quality bowling.”Of the batters, Pathum Nissanka and Sadeera Samarawickrama were regular contributors in the top order, while the bowling unit was carried by the outstanding Dilshan Madushanka. After his 21 wickets, the next highest for Sri Lanka was Kasun Rajitha with eight, while Angelo Mathews and Maheesh Theekshana had six apiece.Theekshana’s struggles in particular hurt Sri Lanka, however support in terms of other spin options was sorely lacking. Jayawardene once more lay the blame on the pitches being offered domestically, which traditionally are known to suit spin bowling – but crucially does not necessitate the imparting of extra revolutions on the ball, something spinners who were successful at the World Cup, such as Mitchell Santner and Ravindra Jadeja, have been known to do.”When we play in Sri Lanka, the number of good wickets we play on is very low. So on those wickets it’s not really necessary for our spinners to bowl with any sort of overspin – which is what is needed to succeed on wickets like those in India. That’s where we see a big difference in our spinners.”If you take someone like Rangana Herath, he played years in England, so he had that skill. What we need to see is how we get our spinners to acquire those skills. At the moment, if you even take a player from the Under-19s they will first play in domestic cricket. But to get them to the right level, we need them to play on good wickets.”We’ve run the numbers in the high performance centre, and at the moment 66% of the deliveries bowled in domestic cricket are by spinners. We even saw a match last week where the whole innings was bowled by spinners. These the major problems we have to address. It’s only if we fix these problems that we can take Sri Lankan cricket to where it needs to be even in the next 10 years.”Jayawardene was speaking during an hour and thirty-minute long post-mortem, during which Sri Lanka’s returning players and staff were grilled by the country’s media on topics ranging from team changes and decisions made at the toss to more wide-spanning inquests regarding Sri Lanka’s standing in the broader cricketing landscape and the way forward for a side seemingly lacking in direction.The entire World Cup squad was present at the briefing, with only Angelo Mathews absent, while head coach Chris Silverwood and Jayawardene represented the coaching staff. It was Jayawardene though that took the lead in navigating a sometimes hostile press. He urged critics to show “trust and be patient” in a “skilful group”.Maheesh Theekshana had a disappointing 2023 World Cup•AFP/Getty Images

“It’s a process that we have to trust and be patient with. This is a skilful group,” Jayawardene said. “The expectations I understand. I think the fans, they all know that when we go for a World Cup, we’re going to do well, perform well. But that expectation has to be realistic, along with the plans.”People jumping and shouting and screaming have to realise what one-day cricket is, and how we’re going to compete going forward. The plans are being set, we just need to be patient and work harder in areas where we need to improve.”More immediately however, Jayawardene drew attention to the team’s fielding and fitness levels. Sri Lanka were the worst fielding side in the tournament in terms of the percentage of catches dropped, while in terms of fitness – aside from injuries to Dasun Shanaka, Matheesha Pathirana and Lahiru Kumara – Jayawardene said that fatigue played a role in some of the poor performances towards the end of the tournament.”We dropped 16 catches which is the highest in the competition. When you’re going with a depleted bowling unit you can’t afford such mistakes. They work really hard in their fielding practices, but on the field the anticipation and execution we do lack. That comes with experience.”But for me the biggest thing is the fitness. What I noticed over the course of the tournament, because of our fitness levels the fatigue got to us as the tournament progressed, and because of that our performances died down. From the first game to the last game, we saw guys making a lot more mistakes. That happens with mental and physical fatigue. The execution and concentration lapse is because of that.”Looking ahead, the path forward is not without substantial obstacles. Much like the World Cup cycle that preceded it, the one leading up to the 2027 tournament will have two T20 World Cups in between. Further, with Sri Lanka having failed to qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy, they will have considerably less ODI cricket under their belt heading into the next ODI World Cup – which could potentially leave the ODI side undercooked once more in four years time.”There’s a big difference between how T20 cricket and one-day cricket is played,” Jayawardene said. “We need to see how we can fit in more one-day games in to the next FTP [future tours programme]. We also need to increase the number of one-day games being played domestically.”Once we have a debrief of this World Cup, we will start planning for the next year and the two years after that and so on, and see what the best plan is moving forward. During this planning we must not only look at the T20 and one-day sides, but also the Test side – who were very close last time around of qualifying for the World Test Championship final.”Despite the team’s poor recent results, Jayawardene was eager to stress patience with the current set of players, highlighting the primarily the need to create an identifiable culture within the team.”We’ve come this way with the talent of our players, the issue is the consistency of them utilising that talent. The players know this as well. They all have a responsibility to build a culture within the team. Each player has that responsibility.”They have to do it on their own though, it’s not someone can just come and instil. The biggest challenge is building that culture along while winning. My biggest belief is that culture precedes strategy. If that culture is there then the team strategy will be easy to execute. If we can do that then this team will go a long way.”

Hosts have rested Ben Stokes, while visitors will be without injured regular captain Temba Bavuma

Firdose Moonda26-Jul-2022

Big picture

Right, we are on to the stuff that matters. After an ODI series that not even the weather wanted to be completed, we are entering the T20I season with all eyes on the World Cup. England have a whopping 13 fixtures before the tournament; South Africa have only eight matches, the bulk of which are in the next ten days, and without regular captain Temba Bavuma.You may think that puts England in a more stable place to prepare from, but they are at the tail-end of 12 white-ball matches in 24 days and will have to be careful to avoid flagging at the end, especially as they have only just entered a new white-ball era. These T20Is are Matthew Mott and Jos Buttler’s final opportunity to win a white-ball series at home after they lost both rubbers against India, and shared the spoils in the ODIs against South Africa.Even if the results don’t matter “Things do get a little bit crazy and frantic out there, but it’s just about having your clear plans and staying as calm as possible.”

After being bowled out for 219, Tasmania opted not to enforce the follow-on

Andrew McGlashan05-Apr-2021So you’re telling me there’s a chance? Western Australia needed to chase 480 to earn a place in the Sheffield Shield after another day where Tasmania dominated at the WACA.It will require the most perfect of batting performances but, other than for professional pride, there is little point playing for a draw. Over in Wollongong, New South Wales and Queensland won’t be worrying themselves.The almost-impossible became even tougher still when Cameron Bancroft was bowled off the last ball of the day aiming a drive at left-armer Sam Rainbird.Once Tasmania put up such a huge first-innings total it become a mammoth task for Western Australia to get the win they needed to jump into the top two. During the third day there were a couple of scenarios that could have played out. Once all the bonus points had been gathered in the NSW-Queensland match one of them was to score 434 in the first 100 overs of their first innings which would have given them enough points to edge ahead of NSW if that match ended in a draw. They got nowhere near.An opening stand of 85 between Bancroft and Sam Whiteman laid a promising foundation but when Beau Webster followed up his hundred with two breakthroughs, finding the edge of Whiteman and Shaun Marsh, the innings never regained a foothold as all ten wickets fell for 134 – the first four being catches to Tim Paine.Lawrence Neil-Smith, playing his first game of the season, claimed the big wicket of Cameron Green who, with likely one innings left, sat 11 runs behind Travis Head at the top of the run-scoring charts with 882.Offspinner Jarrod Freeman went on to collect the best Shield figures by a Tasmania spinner since Xavier Doherty took 5 for 96 against South Australia in November 2013 while Jackson Bird produced an excellent delivery to remove Josh Inglis.The follow-on was not enforced and instead Tasmania went out and batted positively for 34 overs led by captain Matthew Wade’s 42 off 32 balls

Solo Nqweni receives anonymous donation to help fund £80,000 flight from UK by air ambulance

Firdose Moonda09-Jan-2020Solo Nqweni is going home. Nqweni, an allrounder from the Eastern Cape, was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome while playing club cricket for Aberdeenshire last July, spent four weeks in an induced coma and has been receiving treatment in a Scottish hospital for the past five months. He has now recovered enough to travel back to South Africa to continue his rehabilitation.However, it costs more than £80,000 (US$104,000) for an air ambulance. His agent launched a fundraiser four days ago, which had collected £3125 (US$4077), and then on Thursday, an anonymous donor offered to foot the rest of the bill. Nqweni will be in Johannesburg by the weekend.Rob Humphries, Nqweni’s agent, had been working alongside the South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA), and its player services manager, JP van Wyk, to try and secure his return home. They were floored by the generosity of an unknown individual who has made a massive difference to Nqweni’s quality of life.Nqweni played for South Africa Under-19s in 2012 and has been contracted to Eastern Province and the Warriors franchise since. He was on his first cricketing assignment abroad. “I had been pestering him for the last 4-5 years to come to the UK and he finally decided 2019 was the year – then this happened,” Humphries told ESPNcricinfo.After two months in the UK, Nqweni picked up what he thought was the flu. “He had a sore throat and just feeling unwell but was reluctant to go to the doctor,” Humphries said.It was only when the symptoms did not subside that someone at the Aberdeenshire club insisted Nqweni seek medical attention. The National Health Service (NHS) diagnosed him with Guillain-Barré “pretty quickly”, and he was admitted to hospital on July 14 when matters took a turn for the worse. “The thing about Guillain-Barré is that you lose control over your muscles and so, can’t control your ability to breathe,” Humphries said.Nqweni had to put into a coma so a machine could do the work of his lungs. “There were about three to four weeks where it was touch and go,” Humphries said. “And the other thing is that it doesn’t affect the mind, so you are completely aware of what is happening. It’s being trapped in your own body.”During this time, members of the Nqweni family travelled to Aberdeen in relays, ensuring that there was always someone at his side. SACA contributed to their accommodation expenses as well as ensured his franchise contract would stay in place for the ongoing 2019-20 season, even though he is unable to play.Once he had made some progress, Nqweni was brought out of the coma and slowly began to regain some of his muscular functions. In September, he was still being fed out of a tube but was regaining some of his vocal capacity. “It was like if someone loses their voice and you can only just hear them,” Humphries said.By October, Nqweni was able to talk loudly enough to record a video wishing the South African national rugby team, the Springboks, well for the World Cup. In December, he was visited by Ben Stokes and his wife Clare, who were in Aberdeen for the Sports Personality of the Year awards and now, in January, “he has enough mobility to use some of his messenger services,” according to Humphries, who receives messages from Nqweni on Instagram.Given the progress he has made, doctors have given Nqweni the all-clear to travel home but he requires a specialist air ambulance transfer with round-the-clock medical support and a seat for a member of his family to make the journey with him. The exorbitant cost was not covered by the NHS and was too much for the Nqweni family to bear on their own, so Humphries took to social media to try and raise funds. His GoFundMe campaign received some support in its first few days before an unexpectedly large single donation covered the bulk of the cost.Nqweni will still need significant recovery time and money. His family have identified a facility in Johannesburg for the former, while SACA has promised to assist Nqweni in accessing their past player fund, once his contract ends this season, and disability fund, should he require it. It is not known whether Nqweni will be able to return to professional sport, but if he doesn’t he has other options. Before his illness, Nqweni was working part-time for the bank Investec, and studying towards a Bachelor of Commerce degree.”He is a smart kid and can do anything he wants,” Humphries said. “But I think right now, there is no other consideration for him apart from returning to play cricket. He is so strong. I promised him that for the first ball he bowls, I will fly down from England to see it.”