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Danish Kaneria, the Pakistan legspinner, will represent Essex during the 2007 season after gaining permission from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). He will be available for Essex’s opening Championship match against Derbyshire, at Chelmsford, starting on April 18.The Essex chief executive, David East, confirmed Kaneria’s availability for the whole season and added that be would be free to honour his commitments with Pakistan at any point during the summer. There were doubts about whether certain Pakistan players would be able to fulfill their county commitments after the PCB raised concerns of player injuries, especially to the fast bowlers, during Pakistan’s off season. Umar Gul has already been prevented from joining Gloucestershire.”We are delighted that Danish Kaneria can now join Essex for the start of the 2007 season,” East told the county’s website. “It’s been a challenging few weeks for us in terms of trying to clarify his availability and our thanks go to the Pakistan Cricket Board for their understanding and agreement to release their player.”This will be Kaneria’s third season with Essex since his debut in 2004. He missed the 2006 campaign as Pakistan were on their tour of England. He took 95 first-class wickets in 18 matches at an average of 28.18 during his first two seasons. He also played a crucial role in Essex’s National League success in 2005.

Ireland’s hopes of a third successive Intercontinental Cup win have suffered a blow with Boyd Rankin ruled out of next month’s match against UAE. He will also miss the three one-day internationals against Bangladesh.Rankin, who joined Warwickshire on a three-year deal from Derbyshire at the end of last season, suffered a stress fracture in his foot shortly before Christmas, and neither county or country want to risk him returning to action too soon. He is currently spending time with Allan Donald, Warwickshire’s bowling coach, on remodelling his action.”The injury has healed, and I have started back doing bowling drills with Allan Donald, adjusting a few things in my action just this week,” Rankin said. “It was decided between everyone that it would be too soon to be back bowling at full fitness for the Intercontinental Cup match and the ODIs in Bangladesh. I’m concerned that if I come back too soon it might not fully recover and I could break down again.”Phil Simmons, Ireland’s coach, said: “Hopefully with Allan working on remodelling Boyd’s action, we’ll get a fitter and more confident fast bowler.”However, Rankin’s loss is partly offset by the unexpected availability of opening bowler Dave Langford-Smith, who has had a change of heart after initially ruling himself out of contention for the first half of the year due to work commitments.”Dave’s work is going better than he anticipated and thankfully he is able to get the necessary time off,” Simmons said. Ireland take on the UAE in Abu Dhabi from March 6, and play three ODI’s in Bangladesh on March 18, 20 and 22.

Scorecard

Reyad Emrit starred with both bat and ball, stroking his way to his maiden regional and first-class century to put Trinidad & Tobago in firm control of the Carib Beer Challenge final against Barbados at Guaracara Park at Pointe-a-Pierre.The hosts needed a knight in shining armour to take them to safety after ending the first day precariously perched on 223 for 8. But against a tough Barbadian bowling attack – led by the West Indies trio of Pedro Collins, Ian Bradshaw and Corey Collymore – Emrit responded with a gritty 112 to take T&T to a competitive first -innings score of 340.That was not the end of his contribution for the day though, as he returned with early breakthroughs to finish with figures of 2 for 24 from seven overs to leave the visitors tottering on 130 for 5.The day began with a total of 250 looking a very good score for T&T. The Barbadians would have been hoping to mop up the tail and begin their chase, but that was much further away than they anticipated. And although they applied the early pressure – only 73 runs came in the first session – they could not separate the pair of Emrit and Dave Mohammed, his overnight partner, before the lunch break.Emrit, unbeaten overnight on 37 and Mohammed (11 not out), won the patience game early on, turning over the strike when possible, and dispatching the odd bad ball to the boundary. They would eventually post 122 for the ninth wicket, a new T&T record. Emrit brought up his fifty with a soft push for two, but his run-scoring slowed once he reached the half-century. Mohammed also used his opportunities to cut Ryan Austin, the offspinner, twice through point for four.Emrit’s one chance came when he was on 61. It was a lofted drive to midwicket, which was put down by Collymore off Ryan Hinds, the captain. To the Barbadians’ chagrin, he made good use of his let-off. After lunch, Emrit brought up T&T’s 300 with a push to long on for two, then drove Hinds through deep extra cover for four. By then, Barbados, the defending champions, looked dispirited in the field and appeared to be waiting for something to happen.Hinds opted to bring back Collymore, which seemed a good ploy, and he hit Mohammed on the pad four times in one over, at least one of which he was very lucky to survive a confident appeal. Mohammed carried on though, straight driving Collymore to the long-on boundary for his fifth four, and then pushing to mid-on for a single to bring up his 50. Emrit had a couple of cover-driven fours to take him to 89, and got a couple more to take him into the nervous nineties. He did not seem too nervous though, lifting Austin beyond the extra-cover boundary for six to move to 97.Mohammed departed on 50, trying to cut over point. On 99, and with last man Amit Jaggernauth at the other end, Emrit slashed at a wide ball by Collymore outside the off stump. The next ball was cut to first slip and raced past Floyd Reifer to the boundary. Emrit ran down the pitch and leaped into the air in celebration, with fans rushing onto the ground to congratulate him. Emrit took his total to 112 and the overall T&T score to 340 before he slashed at a wide ball and was caught in the slips by Kurt Edwards to bring T&T’s innings to a close.

Barbados started brightly, in their reply, Dale Richards and Wayne Blackman taking them to 27 off the first six overs. Ganga then decided to make his first bowling change, replacing Richard Kelly with Emrit, the first innings century-maker, at the northern end. This move immediately paid dividends for T&T, as, still charged from his crucial knock, Emrit soon removed both openers to leave the visitors on 43 for 2 at tea.First, he succeeded in trapping Richards lbw with his second ball to give the hosts their first wicket at 27. Blackman later played a forward defensive shot to the same bowler, and only managed to feather a thin edge behind to Denesh Ramdin, who accepted the catch.After the tea interval, Barbados started slowly, with skipper Hinds taking almost 20 minutes to add to his score. But once Reifer started to open up and find the boundary, Hinds also opened up, although Mohammed almost managed to have him run out. Mohammed’s third over, however, bore fruit – Reifer, on 18, skipped down the pitch to go after Mohammed and edged to first slip, only to see Bravo hold onto the ball at chest height to leave Barbados at 70 for 3.In came Dwayne Smith, and he began in brisk fashion, picking up a few singles before slapping Mohammed to cover for four. He departed just as suddenly as he arrived, charging down the pitch at the newly-introduced Jaggernauth, and being stumped by Ramdin on the second attempt.Kirk Edwards, the debutant, grew in confidence, as he drove Jaggernauth to the extra-cover boundary for four to bring up Barbados’ hundred. Eventually, Hinds gifted his wicket to Kelly in his second spell, as he drove at a ball wide of off-stump and offered the faintest of edges to Ramdin.Barbados would surely be ruing the chance they missed to take the ascendancy in the match in the first session. And unless one of their remaining batsmen can pull off an Emrit-esque performance to even things up, they may well lose this final.

Bermuda lost a practice match against a local club W Connection Wanderers by 47 runs at Port of Spain on Tuesday. Set at target of 244, they were dismissed for 196 at the Gilbert Park Ground. Bermuda, who are pitted against Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh in the group stage of the World Cup, are on a warm-up tour of the Caribbean.After winning the toss, Wanderers reached 243 for 9 off 50 overs. Jason Samuel top-scored with 68 while Clifton Hall and Kenroy Williams, the Barbados youth captain, chipped in with 43 and 41. Dwayne Leverock was Bermuda’s best bowler with 3 for 46.Clay Smith, Bermuda’s opening batsman, led the chase with 37 and he received support from David Hemp, who made 35. But after they were dismissed the innings fell apart with several batsmen failing to convert their starts. Janeiro Tucker scored 28 and OJ Pitcher and Lionel Cann contributed 30 each but Bermuda’s last three batsmen were dismissed for ducks.

Venkatesh Prasad, the coach of Bangalore Royal Challengers, has asked for patience and trust in those who are managing the team after the Indian Premier League’s second-richest franchise sacked its chief executive following a string of poor performances in the inaugural season of the Twenty20 tournament.Terming Charu Sharma’s dismissal as “unfortunate”, Prasad feared it could send the wrong signal. “It was the management’s decision to sack him,” Prasad told Cricinfo. “Having known him, he is a fantastic individual. But it was unfortunate and it could send a wrong signal to the individuals.”The hire and fire policy might work in the corporate world, probably,” Prasad said. “But we are building a team which came together two days before the tournament. So what is very important is to have a lot of faith in the team and build the trust and faith factor. You need to show patience and trust the people who are managing the team.”Asked about pressure from the franchise on the team, he said, “I understand the franchise has put in loads of money and for them what is important is the performance, the outcome basically. You can’t do anything when performance is the key and so much is at stake.”Prasad also said that though he was the designated coach of the team, he effectively “started handling the duties of the bowling coach as Martin Crowe, the Chief Cricket Officer, and Rahul (Dravid, the captain) handle the team selections and all the other duties”. He revealed that he had briefly thought about resigning from the job following media reports that the franchise wanted to sack him too.On Tuesday, the Bangalore franchise replaced Sharma with Brijesh Patel, the secretary of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), which runs the game in the team’s home city. A Royal Challengers spokesperson said that the CEO had stepped down due to personal reasons, but Sharma said that he was dismissed by the franchise, which is owned by Vijay Mallya, the chairman of United Spirits Limited. Mallya later clarified that he had complete confidence in Prasad, the “bowling coach” and the team.”There was confusion in terms of my role and how to define it,” Prasad, the India bowling coach, said. “But both Rahul and Martin have supported me throughout. My job was more about making sure specific strategies were being worked out during the net sessions while they took care of the overall running of the team.”Prasad said that he was upset over the media reports which suggested that he was being sacked, too.”The thought (of resigning) did cross my mind when the rumours surfaced. But I didn’t want to take a decision in haste. I did chat with Rahul and the support he and the team showed in me was tremendous,” Prasad said. “I was angry as the fingers were pointed towards my commitment and integrity which I’d built over a period of a time. And now suddenly I was in the middle of this. As I said, there is a lot of money at stake but for me what matters more than the monetary aspect is being committed and organised. And as far as I’m concerned, I do it to the best of my ability.”Prasad, a former India swing bowler, admitted that it was “extraordinary” that the Challengers have not been able to get their act together in the tournament – the team lost to Kolkata Knight Riders by five runs on Thursday and is at the bottom of the table with just two wins from eight games.”With the players we have, we don’t belong to the bottom of the table,” Prasad said. “In fact, we should be in the first two for sure. It’s extraordinary that we are not getting our act together as a team, even if there have been a few individual performances which doesn’t help much in a team game. We need to get our act together. Our bowlers have done well and we have one of the best bowling units in the IPL with five international bowlers.”The Royal Challengers will take on Kings XI Punjab in Mohali on Monday.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Kevin Pietersen doesn’t like being overshadowed for very long so after two relatively quiet Tests he chose the opening day at Headingley to make his first major impact on this series. His century was far from chanceless – he had three clear lives – but his biggest inconvenience came when cramp forced him to retire. However, with Ian Bell supplying another composed innings, and Pietersen ready to resume in the morning, England’s Manchester momentum has transferred nicely across the Pennines.All the main batsmen contributed something to the cause and England’s only gripe will be that four of the top six played themselves in without going on. But that is the nature of Headingley; batsmen often say how they rarely feel ‘in’ at Leeds and the fact it was only a batsman of Pietersen’s class who could really dominate suggests batting is not a cakewalk. That shouldn’t take anything away from Bell, who was again faultless, and also Chris Read who was under immense pressure on his return to Test cricket.When Pietersen retired hurt with the total on 259 for 4, if Read had fallen early a decision would have needed to be made as to whether Pietersen returned or the tail was exposed. An inside edge (the bane of Pakistan’s day) opened Read’s account but then he played confidently with Bell, although it helped that there were six overs of loopy part-time spin.On another day, though, the outcome would have been very different for Pakistan, who probably won’t be exchanging pleasantries with Darrell Hair in the near future. When Pietersen was on 2, he got an inside edge via his pad through to Kamran Akmal but Hair declined the appeal. Pakistan could feel rightly aggrieved with that decision but when Pietersen was 29 they could have no complaints as Shahid Nazir overstepped. They will also feel Pietersen escaped two very close lbw appeals early in his innings, but the fact that he was shelled at midwicket the ball before he retired shows Pakistan didn’t help themselves.The height of Pakistan’s frustrations came in the first session despite three wickets before lunch. Shortly after Pietersen’s first let-off, Alastair Cook was the beneficiary of a missed inside-edge. Cook couldn’t take his second chance and popped a catch back to Umar Gul off the last ball before lunch, but Pakistan would have still been stewing about Pietersen, well aware of the damage he is capable of.

Pietersen wasn’t quite at his best in Pakistan during the winter – despite a century at Faisalabad – with his impetuosity often getting the better of him. However, this summer he has added another level of responsibility to his play and that was on show here as he played himself in, albeit with his moments of fortune.The first half of his innings was about steadying England from 110 for 3 and the recovery began with Paul Collingwood for company, before he disappointingly picked out deep square-leg after a stand of 82 in 22 overs. But, by then, Pietersen had already lit the blue touch paper. One shot, on the up through midwicket with a straight bat, signalled the start of his onslaught. Danish Kaneria soon ended up in the stands and, 44 balls after reaching fifty, Pietersen’s now trademark leap accompanied his fifth Test century and third of the summer.When Salman Butt grassed Pietersen at midwicket on 104 Inzamam just chewed his finger nails but the frustration must have been immense. He will have a sensed a moment of relief when Pietersen’s cramp, which had troubled him from when he was in the 90s, forced him off the field for treatment. The problem for Inzamam, as has been throughout the series, is that he had no strike bowler to turn to.Nazir, in his first Test since March 1999, deserved more than Strauss’s wicket but Mohammad Sami was again a major disappointment. However, during the final session Umar Gul backed up his hardwork from Old Trafford with a fine new-ball burst. There was enough in the pitch to keep the seamers interested and Read’s late dismissal to one that didn’t bounce much indicates that batting won’t become any easier.Pakistan ended with a touch of momentum as Gul squeezed one through Matthew Hoggard’s defences. But the thought that will keep them awake tonight is that although Pietersen has left the field once he’ll be back in the morning with the serene-looking Bell. Inzamam could be forgiven if he has the odd nightmare.

How they were out

Click here to read Cricinfo’s description of each wicket

Darren Lehmann wants the number of overseas players in the IPL to be lifted from four to five per franchise in next year’s competition.Lehmann covered for South Africa’s Graeme Smith in the first two matches for the Rajasthan Royals and would be keen for more overseas representatives to get involved. “The IPL should be played as a boutique tournament for international players,” Lehmann told the Advertiser.He has also added his voice to the growing clamour – mainly from English players – for all countries to be able to take part in the IPL. English cricketers, Dmitri Mascarenhas excepted, are currently looking on enviously as they are prevented from participating in a huge payday owing to a clash with their domestic season.”They could add another overseas player to rosters and open up the window for all international teams including England to play,” Lehmann said. “I feel a bit sorry for the English boys but think we can work around it to help get things across the line.”The ECB are considering setting up a rival Twenty20 league, but that is unlikely to happen until 2010. Another possible solution, from the English point of view, would be to move the IPL to November. The London Telegraph reported on Wednesday such a shift is a strong possibility as the month “is perceived to be a more productive TV advertising window”. David Collier, the ECB’s chairman, had earlier dismissed the idea as “unlikely” owing to a clash with international tournaments such as the Champions Trophy.The BCCI’s Lalit Modi reportedly told Lehmann that, contrary to speculation over the IPL’s financial feasibility, the tournament is a monetary triumph. “I have had good discussions with Lalit Modi and they can’t believe the success of the IPL,” Lehmann said. “It is out-rating all the big TV shows.”

Scorecard

South Australia’s batting held together long enough – but only just – to take a tight five-wicket victory off the last ball against New South Wales under the lights in Adelaide.They needed 20 off the last 30 balls, but Andy Delmont and Graham Manou edged closer to leave themselves needing three off the last over, bowled by Doug Bollinger. Somehow they contrived to take the game to the last delivery, an aerial swish behind point completing the job.Matthew Elliott and Mark Cosgrove eased the Redbacks’ top-order concerns with a 76-run stand for the second wicket, and the side were building towards their 243-run target but they, and their long-suffering fans, have learned to take nothing for granted where their batting is concerned.Indeed, Nathan Bracken prompted a few last-minute jitters by removing Darren Lehmann late on, leaving the batsmen to cling on and make hard work of getting home. “It probably should have been a bit easier than that,” admitted Nathan Adcock afterwards with understatement.Elliott and Cosgrove’s fifties, along with Dan Cullen’s smooth spin spell, finally proved the difference in a close-fought encounter which also featured some poor fielding from both sides.Cullen’s 3 for 47 helped to calm the nerves during a lamentable display of three dropped catches and a howler of a missed run-out. New South Wales capitalised to make 7 for 233 – Dominic Thornely cashing in with 68 after being spilled on 26 – and their total, on a green and lively wicket, had looked challenging.It looked far short, though, as soon as South Australia came in. Elliott and Dan Harris put on a solid opening stand of 60 before Harris holed out to Steve O’Keefe at deep square, then Cosgrove combined with Elliott to up the ante and add an entertaining 76 in quick time.Cosgrove (51) played forcefully off the back foot, putting in another fire-cracking performance reminiscent of his 92 on the Redbacks’ opening night against Victoria, although both he and Elliott had a let-off in the same Mark Cameron over.Cameron had softened up Cosgrove earlier with a blow to the elbow, before O’Keefe fluffed in the leg gully trap on 12, then Elliott fired a hard chance to Nathan Hauritz at mid-off on 42. Cameron, though, didn’t let O’Keefe down when it was his turn to catch, snapping up Cosgrove’s high mis-hit.Elliott played with some class, climbing into the pace bowlers with some sweet shots and sound timing until he flapped at a wide one, Haddin taking the edge tidily. By this stage Nathan Adcock had already come and gone, with Lehmann taking over. He played with his usual authority until holing out at deep square off Bracken in the 46th over.Earlier, South Australia had Cullen to thank for rescuing their errors. But while he snapped up Katich (50) and Cowan (37) soon after they had given chances to patch up some of the fielding damage, Thornely went on to make 68 with some electric driving late on, punishing Lehmann in particular to apply the salt.Cullen ended with 3 for 47, his best figures against the Blues, and he also had Haddin for a duck. Haddin, who arrived on the back of a thumping century, had grounds to feel hard done by after he was deemed to have pressed to Adcock at first slip, though the ball may have come off the pad.Katich used his feet well to reach 50 but should have been run out on 45, when he slipped after cutting Cullen to gully but Delmont threw wide of Manou’s desperate right hand and he scrambled back. He finally fell sending a leading edge to the off-side. Cowan (37) was dropped on 18 – by Lehmann at short midwicket off Jason Gillespie, who had bowled tightly and with good movement – and 23, Elliott putting down a sitter off Cosgrove’s first over.The drops allowed Cowan to put on his first opening stand of fifty with Grant Lambert since the first match of last year, also against the Redbacks, but he was finally stumped off Cullen, deceived in the flight. Lambert then made 41 before driving at one outside off, much to Mark Cleary’s fist-pumping delight.South Australia picked up their fielding late on, Cosgrove standing firm to hold Peter Forrest’s skier off Lehmann for 19 and then Dan Harris’s direct throw removed O’Keefe for a sacrificial 2. But then Thornely took hold, though his efforts weren’t enough.So, the Blues’ blues continue: they have now lost three of four one-dayers, with the other washed out. The Redbacks, meanwhile, return here for the Pura Cup game on Friday on something of a rare high but with some question marks remaining.

Offspinner Sunil Narine, who was suspended from bowling in international cricket due to an illegal action in November last year, has been named in West Indies’ squad for the upcoming World Twenty20, which will start from March 8 in India. The squad will be led by Darren Sammy.Narine was reported for a suspect action during the third ODI on West Indies’ tour to Sri Lanka in November. An independent assessment revealed that all variations of his deliveries exceeded the 15-degree limit.The offspinner was also picked in West Indies’ squad for the 2015 World Cup but later withdrew to work on his bowling action, which was reported during the 2014 Champions League T20.The squad for India features 11 players who were part of West Indies’ title win in 2012. The new faces include West Indies’ Test and ODI captain Jason Holder, who is a part of a World T20 squad for the first time, and left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn who has not represented West Indies in the format since January 2015. Andre Fletcher and Jerome Taylor are the two other players who were not part of the 2012 squad.The squad also includes Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard who were controversially axed from the ODI team for the South Africa tour in 2015 and the World Cup, and have since featured only in T20 internationals.Incidentally, Bravo and Pollard were among six senior players who were not given annual retainer contracts by the West Indies Cricket Board for the period between October 1, 2015, to September 30, 2016. Gayle, Sammy, Andre Russell and Narine were also not offered contracts, although Michael Muirhead, the WICB’s chief executive, had stressed this would not be a factor in the selection of the World T20 squad.Currently ranked No. 1 in the T20s, West Indies are in Group 1 of the Super 10 stage at the World T20, along with England, South Africa, Sri Lanka and a qualifying team from the first round of the tournament. The squad will assemble in the UAE for a preparatory camp between February 22 and March 6, and will travel to India on March 7. West Indies are scheduled to play two warm-up matches in Kolkata, against India and Australia on March 10 and March 13 respectively, before travelling to Mumbai for their first league match against England on March 16.West Indies squad: Darren Sammy (capt), Samuel Badree, Sulieman Benn, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Jason Holder, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons, Jerome Taylor

Hunter S. Thompson observed that the truth in Washington is “never spoken over a desk or in daylight hours”. Those of us who report on cricket, terminally stricken as it is by that useless charade known as the press conference, can but nod in weary agreement.Except, that is, when Percy Sonn was at the podium. In fact, the International Cricket Council (ICC), which is so bent on squeezing the last buck out of the game, missed a trick by not selling tickets to its late president’s public appearances. There would have been many takers, this reporter included.Whether Sonn always spoke the truth will be disputed by those who did not share his politics and his drinking habits. He launched into both of those pursuits with an uncommon passion.But while Sonn invariably generated grumbling in cricket’s more reactionary quarters, much of it was muttered: his arguments were as watertight as the glasses from which he swigged his drink.Sonn, who died in Cape Town on May 27, was as sharp of mind as he was of tongue, and entirely entertaining besides. He was never boring, often inflammatory, and always quotable.When cricket reporters gathered in a pressbox it wasn’t difficult to see which of them had Sonn on the other end of a telephone line. They were the ones whose pens jerked into life across their notebooks as urgently as the needles of a Richter scale signalling a major seismic event.”Please, please, don’t call Percy,” became the bleated refrain of one United Cricket Board (UCB) media officer whenever a crisis erupted. Which, in Sonn’s time as UCB president, seemed to be every other day.”You’ve got my number – give it to him,” Sonn told a reporter who, in the aftermath of Hansie Cronje being banned for life, called to ask when last he had spoken to South Africa’s crooked captain.

It was Sonn who said that Cronje “won’t even be allowed to play beach cricket” after some of the latter’s dark dealings with cricket’s underworld were dragged into public view. It was also Sonn who was said to have been drunk enough to have “almost fallen out of his trousers” at a 2003 World Cup game in Paarl.Those familiar with the world according to Sonn were not a bit surprised when controversy followed him into the ICC president’s office. On who else but Sonn’s watch would a Test umpire offer to resign in exchange for a bung of $500,000? Sonn also melted perfectly into the mangle of events that surrounded Bob Woolmer’s death during the 2007 World Cup.The truth is that Sonn deserves a better legacy than he will no doubt be lumped with. He was one of the architects of unity in South African cricket, but the UCB he became president of in 2000 was, in large part, a clubby collection of recalcitrant reprobates who feared nothing so much as real change.So there was horror all round when Sonn had Justin Ontong inserted, at the expense of Jacques Rudolph, into the South African team to play Australia in the second Test at Sydney in 2002. Sonn’s argument, as usual, was irrefutable. Ontong was black, Rudolph was white, and the UCB policy held that black players were to be given preference over whites of similar ability in competition for places in the national team.In a world of grey suited little men who thought grey little thoughts and lived little grey lives, Sonn was a loud burst of the most garish neon. How terrified they must have been of him. As a South African, Sonn came from a country where the words “black” and “white” hold special significance. Perhaps that’s why he never dealt in shades of grey.Away from cricket, he lived in the entirely real world of crime fighting as a public prosecutor, an advocate, an acting judge, the deputy director of public prosecutions in South Africa, and as a legal advisor to the police.He was also the first head of the Directorate of Special Operations in South Africa – a police unit known as the Scorpions which is the country’s answer to the FBI. Sandra, Sonn’s wife, and the couple’s three children know that they are immensely poorer without him.Cricket doesn’t know that yet, but it will.