GOOD WEEK, BAD WEEK: Rain stops play, Jamshed jailed and Young Lions end on a high

The Cricketer rounds up the best and worst from this week in cricket, from India falling foul of over rates to England's latest Test squad casualty

GOOD WEEK

Rain

It did not take much of 2020 for inclement weather to rear its ugly head and start washing cricket away at a thunderous pace.

South Africa has been substantially affected this week, with the second of three ODI clashes between their men's side and England lasting only 68 deliveries before officials made the final decision that Durban's Kingsmead ground would not see a result.

The game had already been shortened from its initial 50 overs to 45 and then 26 per side in order to try and force a result, with South Africa keen to find a win in order to tie up the series honours with a game to play, but no sooner had Chris Jordan removed Temba Bavuma – a hero of the Cape Town chase with his innings of 98 – that the teams vanished to never be seen again.

Meanwhile, 1,439 kilometres away in the opposite corner of the country the precipitation was having a similar effect on the crunch stages of the Under-19 World Cup. While both Super League semi-final fixtures had gone off without a hitch earlier in the week, Willowmoore Park in Benoni – which hosted England's Plate final with Sri Lanka on Monday – has more closely resembled a pond in recent days as the playoffs for fifth and third were both abandoned due to the weather.

With no reserve date set in the tournament calendar, fears that the same fate might befall the Big Bash League final in Sydney prompted organisers into hasty contingency plans. The Bushfire Cricket Bash – an all-star curtain-raiser for the final – was prematurely pushed to Sunday at the Junction Oval in Melbourne, and a sell-out SCG crowd ended up clocking in at just 10,121 in the distant hope of some cricket wading through the rain.

Eventually, a 12-over clash did get under way, and a half-century from Sydney Sixers opener Josh Philippe proved plenty enough to get the home side past the Melbourne Stars their first BBL trophy since the inaugural tournament in 2011-12.

But the rain was not done yet, with the heavens opening all over the post-game festivities as Moises Henriques and his team celebrated a win that would have ended up theirs by default had the rain come down even half an hour sooner.

England Under-19s

The Young Lions picked up their first World Cup silverware in 22 years thanks to a commanding victory over Sri Lanka on Monday, with Dan Mousley and Lewis Goldsworthy sealing the win through a century and five wickets respectively.

England's early losses to Australia and the West Indies had consigned the side to the Plate League contest to round out their stay in South Africa, and confirmed the country's lowest-ever finish in 13 editions of the Youth ODI tournament.

But both pride and something shiny remained at stake and are now in grasp after the second-string knockout contest saw Jon Lewis' charges see off Japan, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka to finish their tour with four wins in six competitive games.

^{England came away winners of the Plate League at the Under-19 World Cup}

Warwickshire man Mousley's 111 was his first time past three figures in Youth ODI action, and followed a fine run of form across the competition with the bat. His tally of 241 runs at 80.33 sees him fifth in the run charts with just Sunday's final to play, and narrowly sees him edge out Tom Banton's haul of 233 from the 2018 edition in New Zealand.

Goldsworthy's five-for drew the Somerset left-arm spinner level with Kent's Hamidullah Qadri with 12 victims across the competition. However, his victims have come at a superior average (9.58 v 14.66) and a tournament-leading economy of only 2.34 runs for each of his 49 overs.

There has been good news for Middlesex paceman Blake Cullen too – the 17-year-old was the youngest member of England's 15-strong squad, and he comes home to a three-year professional contract with his childhood county.

BAD WEEK

Jofra Archer

England's fitness woes continue ahead of next month's trip to Sri Lanka, with Sussex quick Jofra Archer set to miss the tour as well as his early season IPL commitments after the elbow problem that sidelined him in South Africa has been discovered to be a low-grade stress fracture.

The unusual injury comes after a breakthrough and intense run in the international arena, with only Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon having bowled more than Archer's 400.5 overs in international action since he debuted against Ireland in an ODI in May.

Rajasthan Royals are remaining hopeful that he will return to the franchise at some stage in the competition – new head coach Andrew McDonald told The Cricketer that they are "[not] in any rush to replace him, just in case things change" but England's hopes are firmly on his recovery in time for the home Tests against the West Indies in June.

The news scrubs one more name off England's potential squad for the World Test Championship series in Sri Lanka, with Rory Burns set to miss out as he recovers from ankle surgery and Moeen Ali looking unlikely to return from his red-ball sabbatical and instead team up with Andy Flower in the Pakistan Super League.

However, England remain hopeful that James Anderson will return from his latest injury setback in time for the series, with the veteran seamer telling Sky Sports this week that he is back in shape, training at pace and hopeful selectors will deem him ready to go for the first tour game in Katunayake on March 7.

India

India had the rub of the green last week with back-to-back Super Over wins in T20 clashes with New Zealand, but Virat Kohli's side has taken a hit this week as the ODI portion of the tour got under way.

Not only have the hosts already achieved an unassailable 2-0 series lead with wins in Hamilton and Auckland, but India's players were each fined 80 per cent of their match fees from the series opener for falling short of the requisite over rate for the third game in succession.

The lazy infringement had already cost captain Virat Kohli his spot for last Friday's third and final T20 fixture, but his deputy Rohit Sharma was soon off the field and on the next plane home after picking up a tour-ending calf injury.

Mayank Agarwal earned a call-up for the ODI portion of the tour as a reward for his recent Test efforts, though who will join him in the middle in Wellington on February 21 remains to be seen.

Hardik Pandya's layoff after a back injury has been extended once again, and question marks still surround Ishant Sharma after a recent ankle tear in domestic action.

While Kohli's absence lasted just one game, and India have one more shot at 50-over redemption in Mount Maunganui on Tuesday, the fact the medical team seem to be India's fastest-moving and hardest-working squad members at current will be cause for concern as they look to extend their World Test Championship lead later this month.

^{Kyle Jamieson compounded India's woes with a dream ODI debut in Auckland today}

Match-fixers

Three individuals have been handed prison time at Manchester Crown Court this week after being caught in a National Crime Agency sting operation.

Nasir Jamshed, who collected 68 caps for Pakistan between 2008 and 2015, has been handed a 17-month sentence after pleading guilty to two counts of bribery.

The 33-year-old batsman had attempted to facilitate spot-fixing during the 2016 Bangladesh Premier League and 2017 Pakistan Super League, and previously received a 10-year ban from his national board for his role in the scheme.

Co-conspirators Yousef Anwar and Mohammed Ijaz also plead guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit bribery. The pair received jail terms of 40 and 30 months respectively.

Khalid Latif and Sharjeel Khan – two of the players Jamshed recruited into the scheme – are currently serving five-year bans by the PCB for their on-field offences.