JP Duminy named head coach of Sharjah Warriorz

ByPrashant Kumar

Sharjah, Sep 3 (IANS) Former South African cricketer JP Duminy has been named head coach of the ILT20 franchise Sharjah Warriorz ahead of the third season.
Duminy took over the baton from fellow Proteas cricketer and coach Johan Botha, who had led the team in the second edition of the ILT20.
“I am delighted to take up the challenge of being the head coach with Sharjah Warriorz. This is an excellent set-up, which is vibrant and full of optimism and ideas for the upcoming season. We are looking forward to building a strong squad for this year, and we are excited to see what lies in store for us,” Duminy said in a statement.
The former South African all-rounder, who was the batting coach for the Warriorz in the previous edition of the ILT20, is among the most experienced cricketers in the T20 format.
The 40-year-old has played 345 matches in the shorter format and has scored 8,331 runs in the time, and boasts of a strike rate that is in excess of 120. The right arm off-break bowler has also picked 99 wickets in his career.
In the franchise cricket, Duminy has plied his trade in the IPL, the CPL and the Pakistan Super League. Duminy, who was an important part of the South African cricket team during his playing days, has also turned out for the likes of Mumbai Indians, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Delhi Capitals, the Barbados Tridents and Islamabad United.
The all-rounder is well-versed with the playing conditions in the UAE, the Warriorz mentality, and also brings along his experience of more than 15 years of cricket at the highest level.
Earlier in 2023, Duminy had been appointed as the batting coach for the South African men’s white-ball cricket teams, and the team performed brilliantly with the bat at the ODI World Cup in India, where they regularly scored in excess of 300. He has also been the Head Coach at the Paarl Royals in the SA20 league and at the Boland Rocks’ provincial team.
“JP Duminy is one of the best minds in the business when it comes to leading the team from the front, and in the third season of ILT20, he has the complete confidence of Capri Sports and Sharjah Warriorz, of course. With this we kick start our preparations this year and look forward to an exciting season with JP Duminy at the helm,” said Kshemal Waingankar, Capri Sports, COO.
–IANS
bc/

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A similar type of showing this time around can seal a third European Championship appearance in a row and a fourth tournament in eight years for the Dragons. Yet, it must be acknowledged that the task remains large; even a near-perfect performance might yield two chances falling Poland’s way. If they happen to be at the boots of Robert Lewandowski, even with his powers on the wane he can ensure the rest of the match is rendered irrelevant. But for all that they must beware the Barcelona forward and his teammates, Wales will have confidence in their own game, their own approach to chasing victory – and there are two particularly good reasons for doing so. The first big and obvious advantage that Wales have is that they are on home soil. This goes beyond merely being in comfortable surroundings – that would be a bonus for almost any nation. For Wales, it has been more. The partisan home crowd are capable of magnificence, of levelling the field at times against those who are nominally a better team – at least for periods of matches and certainly from the start. Home comforts alone cannot earn a win but they can certainly help the hosts settle in. A strong start can be crucial. Since November 2022, Wales have lost just once at home – the surprise defeat to Armenia in qualifying – and even in that match, Wales took the lead. In the full two years since Tomas Soucek scored on the half-hour mark to give the Czech Republic a lead, Armenia were the only nation to breach the Dragons’ rearguard before the half-time whistle went… until Teemu Pukki did so on Thursday. Even that was when Wales were two up, and in stoppage time. Netherlands and England both took 50 minutes to score, albeit the latter in Wales’s “home” game in Qatar. Turkey took 70, Croatia 75. Iran also took 90 minutes at the World Cup, then scored twice. Cardiff has, by and large, been a stronghold of resistance, giving the team time to set their platform and work out a way to do damage themselves. But even beyond Welsh stopping power is Poland’s inability to win on the road. To use a decidedly non-industry-standard term to describe their away form over the last half-decade or so, they have been garbage. Since 2020, their 18 away games have yielded just five victories. And four of those have come over San Marino, Albania, Andorra and Faroe Islands – barely worth noting as results, to be blunt. Just one scoreline stands out in their favour, and very much against that of Tuesday night’s hosts: September 2022 in the Nations League, Wales 0 Poland 1. While results in general have improved under Michal Probierz, away from home they have still lost to Moldova and Albania in the past nine months, only beating the Faroes since seeing off Wales a year and a half ago. 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The former is a threat going forward and certainly works hard, but is hardly known for his tenacity or accuracy in the challenge. Against a twin dribble-happy threat along the ground, the spaces behind and beside him are a key area for Wales to target. Bednarek, too, is better as a ball player from the back than someone comfortable getting dragged out toward the touchline or having the speed across the ground to track runners heading past him. Getting Wilson on the move and Johnson leading the line again should be Page’s priorities, especially if Wales are forced on the counterattack after losing the midfield battle. That is where their chances can come from – and, coincidentally or otherwise, is where Estonia’s consolation came from last week. The match-up works well in the Dragons’ favour in this area of the pitch; now their Premier League stars have to come up with the final ball and finish to outperform whatever Poland’s legend from LaLiga can produce at the other end. Wales ready for crunch Euro 2024 play-off without talismanic figure Gareth Bale Is Wales v Poland on TV? Kick-off time, channel and how to watch Euro 2024 play-off How to watch all the Euro 2024 play-offs in the UK If Wales give Lewandowski a sniff at goal he will take it, warns Wilson ‘It is half-time’ says Rob Page after Wales take a big stride towards Euro 2024 Wales fly past Finland to book a Euro 2024 play-off final date with Poland

A similar type of showing this time around can seal a third European Championship appearance in a row and a fourth tournament in eight years for the Dragons. Yet, it must be acknowledged that the task remains large; even a near-perfect performance might yield two chances falling Poland’s way. If they happen to be at the boots of Robert Lewandowski, even with his powers on the wane he can ensure the rest of the match is rendered irrelevant. But for all that they must beware the Barcelona forward and his teammates, Wales will have confidence in their own game, their own approach to chasing victory – and there are two particularly good reasons for doing so. The first big and obvious advantage that Wales have is that they are on home soil. This goes beyond merely being in comfortable surroundings – that would be a bonus for almost any nation. For Wales, it has been more. The partisan home crowd are capable of magnificence, of levelling the field at times against those who are nominally a better team – at least for periods of matches and certainly from the start. Home comforts alone cannot earn a win but they can certainly help the hosts settle in. A strong start can be crucial. Since November 2022, Wales have lost just once at home – the surprise defeat to Armenia in qualifying – and even in that match, Wales took the lead. In the full two years since Tomas Soucek scored on the half-hour mark to give the Czech Republic a lead, Armenia were the only nation to breach the Dragons’ rearguard before the half-time whistle went… until Teemu Pukki did so on Thursday. Even that was when Wales were two up, and in stoppage time. Netherlands and England both took 50 minutes to score, albeit the latter in Wales’s “home” game in Qatar. Turkey took 70, Croatia 75. Iran also took 90 minutes at the World Cup, then scored twice. Cardiff has, by and large, been a stronghold of resistance, giving the team time to set their platform and work out a way to do damage themselves. But even beyond Welsh stopping power is Poland’s inability to win on the road. To use a decidedly non-industry-standard term to describe their away form over the last half-decade or so, they have been garbage. Since 2020, their 18 away games have yielded just five victories. And four of those have come over San Marino, Albania, Andorra and Faroe Islands – barely worth noting as results, to be blunt. Just one scoreline stands out in their favour, and very much against that of Tuesday night’s hosts: September 2022 in the Nations League, Wales 0 Poland 1. While results in general have improved under Michal Probierz, away from home they have still lost to Moldova and Albania in the past nine months, only beating the Faroes since seeing off Wales a year and a half ago. That match, that outcome, will doubtless form the basis of the Poles’ approach to the play-off final, perhaps not entirely tactically but certainly in the lead-up regarding mind games and mindset-building within their squad. It’s unlikely Rob Page will pay too much heed to it. Aside from being 18 months ago, the Welsh spine that evening bore little resemblance to the one on show against Finland. Rhys Norrington-Davies hasn’t won a cap since that very fixture, while on the other side of the back three was Ben Cabango, who only has seven senior caps in total. The midfield double-pivot was Dylan Levitt and Joseff Morrell, both decidedly second-string at best for Page. Having Ben Davies, Chris Mepham and Ethan Ampadu, in particular, filling three of those roles adds 180 caps and plenty more top-flight experience and quality to the Welsh ranks, a big difference-maker when it comes to facing international-level attackers. Which brings us to Wales’s second point of positivity: the Brennan Johnson-Harry Wilson combination. Page may opt to add a central option since Poland tend to play 3-5-2 rather than 3-4-3, but the three-pronged attack worked well against Finland, giving the Dragons an outlet in wide areas and letting the fluid trio in attack switch over, drift central or into channels and all either score or assist. The third part of that triumvirate, David Brooks, was excellent too – a goal and an assist to his name in an hour on the pitch – but Wilson and Johnson looked particularly neat with their dovetailing in the left channel, their willingness to switch roles and making it tough for defenders to track them. It just so happens that in Poland’s set-up, their right channel looks the weakest, in mobility terms and defensive resilience: Przemyslaw Frankowski at wing-back and Jan Bednarek behind him on the right side of a back three. The former is a threat going forward and certainly works hard, but is hardly known for his tenacity or accuracy in the challenge. Against a twin dribble-happy threat along the ground, the spaces behind and beside him are a key area for Wales to target. Bednarek, too, is better as a ball player from the back than someone comfortable getting dragged out toward the touchline or having the speed across the ground to track runners heading past him. Getting Wilson on the move and Johnson leading the line again should be Page’s priorities, especially if Wales are forced on the counterattack after losing the midfield battle. That is where their chances can come from – and, coincidentally or otherwise, is where Estonia’s consolation came from last week. The match-up works well in the Dragons’ favour in this area of the pitch; now their Premier League stars have to come up with the final ball and finish to outperform whatever Poland’s legend from LaLiga can produce at the other end. Wales ready for crunch Euro 2024 play-off without talismanic figure Gareth Bale Is Wales v Poland on TV? Kick-off time, channel and how to watch Euro 2024 play-off How to watch all the Euro 2024 play-offs in the UK If Wales give Lewandowski a sniff at goal he will take it, warns Wilson ‘It is half-time’ says Rob Page after Wales take a big stride towards Euro 2024 Wales fly past Finland to book a Euro 2024 play-off final date with Poland

ByRupak Kumar

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