Chris Green, the globetrotting Australian offspinner, has signed a deal to return to Birmingham Bears for the 2020 Vitality Blast, and will captain the side in the competition.

Green, who has made his name as one of the best Powerplay spinners on the T20 circuit in recent years, played six games for the club this year, having flown in from the Global T20 Canada at less than 24 hours' notice. He impressed in that stint, conceding just 6.69 runs per over, and will be available for the whole group stage in 2020.

ALSO READ: From a Thunder innings to Guyana captain - the unlikely story of Chris Green

And after Jeetan Patel stood down from the captaincy, with his retirement due at the end of next season, Green will lead the side for the whole of the Blast. Will Rhodes was confirmed as the Championship and 50-over captain last week.

"I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Bears last summer and it's a huge honour to return to the club as captain in 2020," Green said. "I am really excited about re-joining the squad next season.

"We know that there's tremendous potential in this young squad and we have every chance of making the knockout stages and pushing for a home Finals Day if we can keep developing in the build up to the opener with Notts Outlaws on May 29.

"Having arrived straight from the Global T20 Canada tournament this year, it's very exciting that I can return to Edgbaston in mid-May and support our preparations for the full Vitality Blast campaign."

"It's great that we can bring Chris back to Edgbaston," said Paul Farbrace, the club's sport director. "He's a true T20 specialist who boasts plenty of experience of playing in many of the world's top short-form tournaments, but he also has the potential to become an established player on the international stage.

"He immediately settled into the squad last summer and the cricket management team recognise that his experience and leadership qualities can help us to develop a fresh, attacking and entertaining approach to our T20 cricket.

"Securing Chris gives us consistency in the make-up of our team, which we also see as an important factor in helping us get back into the knockout stages the Blast."

Green recently signed a six-year deal - the longest-ever Big Bash contract - with Sydney Thunder, and counts Guyana Amazon Warriors and Multan Sultans among his other sides. He captained Guyana in the final four games of the Caribbean Premier League in 2018, and recently told ESPNcricinfo that he had received some "good feedback" from Australia's selectors about his standing ahead of next year's T20 World Cup.

CSA's board has been hit by its first resignation in the aftermath of criticism from several high-profile voices including former president Norman Arendse for the recent crises. Professor Shirley Zinn has stepped down as an independent member of the board citing problems with CSA's "principles of corporate governance".

CSA has been under pressure for a while now. It is currently embroiled in a legal battle with the South African Cricketers' Association (SACA) over its proposed domestic restructure and is facing severe losses - projections are at R654 million - over the next four year cycle.

On the back of all that, CSA revoked the accreditation of five journalists without giving any reason, prompting backlash from the South African National Editors' Forum (SANEF) and SACA. Major sponsor Standard Bank even demanded that that board "clean up their act."

CSA has since met with Standard Bank and provided them an undertaking to "urgently implement remedial actions to address stakeholder concerns, including the unacceptable manner in which it treated members of the media."

CSA'a 12-member board include president Chris Nenzani, six presidents from the affiliates provinces - Beresford Williams, Zola Thamae, Tebogo Siko, Donovan May, Jack Madiseng and Angelo Carolissen - and five independent directors namely Mohamed Iqbal Khan, Dawn Mokhobo, Shirley Zinn, Steve Cornelius and Marius Schoeman CS. The inclusion of independent members came in 2012 after Gerald Majola was forced out because of the 2009 IPL bonus scandal.

More to follow

Former Wales coach Mike Ruddock has joined Ospreys on a short-term basis as a consultant to review rugby operations with the struggling region.

Ruddock will "offer support and advice" to interim Ospreys coaches Matt Sherratt and Carl Hogg in December.

"We are delighted to have Mike join us for a month," Ospreys managing director Andrew Millward said.

"The coaches and players have all welcomed the decision to draft him in to offer his support.

The Ospreys say they have negotiated Ruddock's temporary release from his current coaching role with Lansdowne FC in Dublin and with Acorn Global Recruitment.

Ospreys have lost eight out of nine competitive games this season and lie sixth in Conference A in the Pro14 and endured a turbulent week.

Chairman Rob Davies has confirmed Allen Clarke will not return to an Ospreys coaching role "as things currently stand".

Davies says Clarke is no longer in charge of team affairs, but will legally remain an Ospreys employee until his situation is resolved.

Davies says Clarke's situation is due to a "matter of personal conduct".

After considerable success with Newport Gwent Dragons, Ruddock succeeded Steve Hansen as Wales coach in 2004, winning the Grand Slam at his first attempt in 2005.

After leaving the Wales job in February 2006, he then spent three seasons with Worcester Warriors, from 2007 to 2010, following relegation from the Premiership.

Former Tottenham Hotspur coach Mauricio Pochettino has said he is already thinking about his next managerial role, less than two weeks after losing his job at the north London club.

Pochettino, who took charge of Tottenham in 2014, was sacked on Nov. 20 and replaced by former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho the next day.

Speaking to Fox Sports Argentina, Pochettino said: "There are a lot of clubs and attractive projects for me to take on.

"It is my intention to return to manage in Europe. It is hard for me to imagine a project in Argentina, however, for the sake of my family I would not refuse to work over here.

"But now I need to be calm for a few days and see what happens. I haven't had a lot of time to digest what has happened with me."

The Argentine has been linked with a number of clubs, including United, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

"For the time being, the most important thing is for me to clear my head after five-and-a-half incredible seasons with Tottenham," Pochettino said. "My aim is to seek the ability to rebuild myself and get my self-motivation back.

"My first decision was to come back to Argentina, return to my home and see family and friends. My best decision was to come to Argentina to switch off for 10 days.

"But I expect to return to Europe to make decisions on my future. At my age I don't need a lot of time to recover. I am open to listen to projects put before me."

On the subject of Lionel Messi, let me take you back to Sunday, Oct. 6, at Camp Nou.

Six-time Ballon d'Or winner he might now be, but at that stage, his season had already been scarred by injury, disappointment and defeat. Plus, it had been revealed that, shockingly, he could walk away from Barcelona -- for free -- in June. It was already the eighth week of term, and Messi had started only one La Liga match, played a total of 90 minutes domestically and been defeated at Granada.

That October night, Barcelona were 3-0 up by the 78th minute, but their No. 10 hadn't scored or created any of the goals.

Messi jogged up and launched a curling free kick into the top left corner of Tomas Vaclik's goal, over the head of Daniel Carrico, who'd retreated to the goal line. It was a single, gleaming moment of Messi magic peaking through the unrelenting gloom that had dogged him since July, when Argentina lost the semifinal of the Copa America to Brazil, and the little genius was, quite ludicrously, sent off during the third-place game against Chile.

However, take note.

From Oct. 6 until now, we've witnessed the kind of behaviour that not only guaranteed Messi the Ballon d'Or again (voting closed in early November) but also underlined his status as one of the most special men ever to pull on football boots. From that day until this, Barcelona have scored 21 times and surged to the top of both La Liga and their Champions League group, and Messi has either created or converted 17 of those goals.

Now let me take you back a couple of weeks before that sublime free kick: Messi breaks down just before half-time against Villarreal. TV camera microphones catch him saying to the club's physio: "I can't break down again. I can't break down."

He's on the side of the pitch, desperately hoping that the inner-thigh massage he has been given can clear the muscle pain and he can resume. To his left (injured and dropped, respectively) Ivan Rakitic and Samuel Umtiti loom over him in the front row of the Camp Nou stand, but they're watching the match. Right behind him is his personal aide-de-camp, Pepe Costa, who has been inseparable from Messi for many years. His face is like thunder; he knows the agony his friend and client is suffering.

But I think people misinterpreted Messi's sentiments that night. To many it sounded like, and was interpreted as, a personal lament.

Given how he has hoisted a confused, confusing and inconsistent Barcelona onto his shoulders since his return against Sevilla, it can retrospectively be understood as him stating, out loud in anguish to the night sky, that he feared that if he were seriously injured, having been out for weeks with a calf problem, by the time he returned, his team's season would be in tatters.

Jump to the Wanda Metropolitano on Sunday and the magnificent way Messi, who knew by then that he was the Ballon d'Or winner, chose to celebrate his coronation by spearing Atletico Madrid through their soul.

Don't for a second think that his mind had drifted 24 hours forward to the ceremony in Paris, but nevertheless, Messi played extremely strangely. When he trudged around the Metropolitano pitch, he looked more disaffected than mentally dissecting Atletico.

Remember that phrase Pep Guardiola used about Messi conducting mental X-rays of surrounding gaps and opportunities while he strolled around the playing surface? This wasn't that. He miscontrolled, he chose his route with the ball mistakenly more often than not, and he gave possession away such that he was forced to race back three quarters of the pitch to try to correct his error. Like it or not, this was an off night for Mr. Ballon d'Or.

By now you know that he eventually remedied that -- and spectacularly so. But what the world's first six-time Ballon d'Or winner did, and how he produced the executioner's touch in Madrid late on Sunday, was extremely illuminating.

Recently, I interviewed Antoine Griezmann. Not only is he not buckling under the responsibility of unlearning one skill set and relearning another, but he is also completely sure that he's on target, given how tough he anticipated the process would be. Although by his own admission he is shy, not likely to try to inveigle his way into the Messi-Luis Suarez circle of trust, Griezmann is also quite clear that he has the mean determination and work rate to earn the respect and acceptance of the two senior men of war up front for Barcelona.

To help complete this puzzle and to further our understanding of Messi and his fiefdom, just take those themes from Griezmann and build them into your appreciation of Barcelona's past two games.

On Wednesday, Barcelona thumped Borussia Dortmund with their three principal strikers, Argentinian-Uruguayan-Frenchman, all scoring in the same match for just the second time. Afterward, Suarez called Griezmann's performance "sensational." He then added that once Barcelona went 2-0 up and thought they had the match under control, "Messi and I sought out Antoine with the ball, as we've done with others before him, in the knowledge that it was 'costing' him to convert chances into goals. Helping him and him getting that first Champions League goal for Barca was important for his confidence."

There's nothing outright negative about the statement, but it's a clear signal that helping Griezmann integrate, feel confident, score goals and turn a duopoly into a trident as they did with Neymar is far down the list of priorities. It was a touch patronising, but there you have it.

So back to Sunday.

By the time Thomas Lemar has made his lame attempt at a cross-field diagonal ball to release Vitolo and Sergi Roberto has cut it out by heading it down to Frenkie de Jong, Messi is about to receive the ball with five minutes left. Oddly, the Dutchman either notices his team leader and in-house genius and deliberately ignores him at first or De Jong is fixated on the idea of a long diagonal ball to his left in order to release the French World Cup winner and thus doesn't see the infinitely easier pass to Messi, who's about 25 metres away, as opposed to 50.

Messi waves his arms in the air, signifying both a desire to get the ball now and a disbelieving frustration (make that astonishment) that he hasn't been given it instantly. You've likely seen what happens next.

While Sergi Roberto's dummy run into the box takes one defender away and tricks Thomas Partey into a 180 he didn't need to make, Messi cuts left, across the front of the penalty area, and has the ball at his laser-controlled left boot. Atleti are in deep, deep trouble.

What looms in front of him -- and I honestly mean it couldn't have been more obvious if there were a yellow brick road to follow or a celestial, fluorescent sign with the words "Give. The. Ball. To. Griezmann." -- is a super simple chance to slide a pass into the Frenchman's path. He is open beyond belief. After he was harangued, whistled and abused all night, it would have been storybook of storybooks had the loathed Griezmann scored Barcelona's winning goal past Jan Oblak.

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But Messi isn't even interested.

The one-two pass he plays with Suarez is executed superbly, but it's the more difficult option, and instead of a little shunt of the ball into Griezmann's scoring zone, the Argentinian and Uruguayan have taken the opportunity into a more crowded, potentially more threatening area. Of course Messi scores -- with barely a backlift of his left boot, with such a powerful parabola that Oblak is still leaping at full stretch when the Puma-branded sphere stretches the netting behind him.

It was a moment to justify all those who'd already voted for Messi for the Ballon d'Or ahead of Virgil van Dijk, who said he thought the award belonged to Barcelona's Argentinian (despite his team's defeating Messi's team 4-0 at Anfield last spring -- how amazing a point of view is that?) It was a moment to make the ultra-competitive Diego Simeone stop, shrug, applaud in honest admiration and shrug again, as if to say: "Can't argue with genius." It was a moment to understand Griezmann's predicament.

Messi and Suarez, so long as they are athletically able to, take care of business. They view it as their responsibility; they are willing to donate a goal to Griezmann when the serious heavy lifting is already done. It's like parents who do the driving but are willing to ride along with their learner's-permit-toting kid on Sundays. Griezmann's task is to mix patience with aggression and do special enough things that Messi & Suarez Inc. are shocked into offering a junior partnership rather than a salaried post.

We are in December. In terms of points, determination, physical well-being and lifting the only trophies so far available to him, Messi, and by definition Barcelona, couldn't have achieved a great deal more. Whether this momentum is sufficient to beat Real Madrid at Camp Nou in a fortnight, whether it's sufficient to power Barcelona past the European pretenders who play heavy-metal football in March and April, whether this precarious role for Messi running, dribbling and scoring with a good number of teammates on his back is sufficient to win trophies, we will have to wait and see.

You'd suspect not.

Just to return to the point, Messi knew it that day in September when he lay injured, distraught and fearful on the turf at Camp Nou against Villarreal. Without him for a long spell, Barcelona would not collapse but would, slowly, be exposed as mere mortals. As it is, he's having to do so much heavy lifting, to creak under such responsibility, that the individual trophies inevitably come his way.

But La Liga and the Champions League? They look far more out of reach than Barcelona's various points totals suggest.

The Cricket South Africa board has come under severe criticism from its widely respected former president, Norman Arendse, and major sponsors Standard Bank, who in separate statements over the past 24 hours have called on the administrators to "clean up their act" and "account for the current crisis in South African cricket".

Arendse, who also served as the organisation's lead independent director until just over a year ago, wrote an open letter to the "cricket-loving fraternity", in which he accused the CSA board of failing in its responsibilities and asked it to "act before it's too late" to put CSA on a more secure and sustainable footing.

He has also called on the CSA Board to hold CEO Thabang Moroe and "those who have been complicit" accountable.

These statements followed similar concerns over the state of the game voiced by the South African National Editors' Forum (SANEF) and the South African Cricketers' Association (SACA). They came after five journalists - including this correspondent - had their accreditation revoked by CSA on Sunday; they were given no reasons for their sanction but CSA CEO Thabang Moroe later said in radio interviews that the board was unhappy with their reporting and had requested meetings to discuss this but the quintet refused. All five have since been informed that their match access has been reactivated.

This was the final straw for many in a protracted series of problems for CSA, which are now being pinned on the board. ESPNcricinfo has been informed that some board members are considering resignation as soon as this week.

"The CSA Board has simply abdicated its fiduciary responsibilities by failing to act with the due care, skill and diligence required of it by the Companies Act, and the CSA Constitution," Arendse wrote. "To the extent that the CSA Members' Council are aware of the above mentioned shortcomings and failures of governance, they too must share responsibility, and be held accountable.

"I, therefore, call on the Board and the Members' Council to meet urgently to consider the matters raised in this letter, and to hold the CEO (and those who have been complicit) to account," Arendse wrote.

Among the issues Arendse raised were CSA's proposed domestic restructure, which would eliminate the six-team franchise system and put in a 12-team provincial competition instead, and CSA's failure to appoint a lead independent director. Arendse's chief concern was the financial situation at CSA, with the organisation projecting losses of R654 million (USD44 million approx) in the next four-year cycle. "The future sustainability of cricket is also at grave risk given the public CSA pronouncement of a projected shortfall of hundreds of millions of Rands. It appears that the culling of franchise cricket as we know it is a direct response to CSA's financial woes," Arendse said.

Thabang Moroe, CSA CEO, said in response to Arendse's statement: "Cricket South Africa has noted the open letter from Adv Arendse and we respect his views. The most important issue right now is for CSA to demonstrate a level of stability and start moving towards its former days of glory. This for us is not only important for the brand, but more so the fans of cricket and the future of the sport of cricket in this country."

Also on Monday, Standard Bank demanded a meeting with CSA to discuss what it called "governance and conduct media reports which have brought the game into disrepute". ESPNcricinfo understands that Standard Bank demanded CSA "clean up their act" ahead of their sponsorship renewal negotiations.

SANEF and SACA also both condemned CSA's actions in revoking media accreditation with SACA linking the issue to its own struggle to communicate with the governing body. "This is not ... dissimilar to what SACA has had to endure over the last nine months, during which we have been barred from CSA sub-committees, denied access to critical information necessary for us to represent the players and had our agreements breached with impunity," Tony Irish, the SACA CEO, said. "It is clear to us that things are getting worse, not better."

SACA is still embroiled in a legal battle with CSA over the domestic restructure, which SACA says could see around 70 cricketers lose their jobs. It too called on CSA's board to act. "On behalf of the 310 professional cricketers which we represent we are now left to publically implore the Directors of CSA to exercise their fiduciary duties by acting to deal with these issues and to protect the game from further damage. The players not only care deeply about the game but also understand that their careers depend on its health and sustainability. From a players' point of view we therefore want to see solutions to the current problems, and for the game to be returned to a healthy position as a matter of priority."

SANEF asked CSA to "respect the independence of the media" and to "refrain from trying to influence coverage through intimidation tactics". The body said it would monitor the situation and take further steps if necessary.

Naseem Shah, the 16-year-old Pakistan fast bowler who made heads turn during the recent senior-team tour of Australia, is expected to return to the national Under-19 ranks and link up with the rest of the squad as they prepare for the Under-19 World Cup early next year in South Africa.

"He is my main weapon and I need him there at the World Cup," Ijaz Ahmed, the head coach of the Pakistan Under-19 team, told ESPNcricinfo. "He now has a taste of international cricket and now, at the home [Test] series against Sri Lanka, we are mainly banking on spinners. Pakistan have [Mohammad] Abbas and Shaheen [Afridi] to lead the fast-bowling attack according to the conditions.

"I feel he [Shah] for now should only be used in conditions like in New Zealand, England, etc, when needed. For now, we have a very important event coming up in South Africa and he is very handy for me and I will ask Misbah [ul-Haq, the chief coach and selector] to release him."

Shah was named in the original World Cup squad, and ESPNcricinfo understands that he will be released to prepare and take part in the tournament.

Shah, who has just seven first-class matches under his belt, made an impact during Pakistan's two-Test series in Australia. He had been all the talk even before he landed in Australia, with footage of his exploits in a short domestic career going viral. He didn't bowl in the first innings of the Pakistanis' tour game against Australia A following the death of his mother, but impressed during an eight-over burst in the second innings, bowling with pace and picking up the wicket of Marcus Harris.

He made his Test debut in the first game, in Brisbane, and sent back David Warner with a brute of a short ball that the batsman, then on 154, could only edge through to the wicketkeeper. Shah had found Warner's edge earlier too, but was denied the wicket as he had overstepped. He was dropped for the second Test, in Adelaide.

New Zealand are "quietly optimistic" that Trent Boult and Colin de Grandhomme will be fit to play in Australia.

Boult and de Grandhomme missed the second Test against England after sustaining injuries during the victory in Mount Maunganui. And while New Zealand coach, Gary Stead, admits it is too early to know for sure if the pair will be available for the Perth Test on December 12, he described progress so far as "encouraging".

Both players will be obliged to step up their rehabilitation in the coming days. While they have had gentle bowls over the last couple of days, they will be pressed a little harder on Wednesday and then expected to deliver "a decent spell" on Friday. Only after that will a decision be taken on whether they fly to Perth on Saturday.

If either of them struggle to get through those sessions, Stead suggested a replacement would be called into the squad.

"Both Colin and Trent are progressing well, which is encouraging for us," Stead said. "Colin could have kept bowling through the last Test so he's probably just a little more advanced. But Trent actually rocked up really well today.

"Both have rolled their arm over at a very low level in the last two days. But both are going to have to prove their fitness a couple of days out from the first Test and bowl a decent spell of 10-12 overs at least over two or three spells.

"I don't know if I'm really confident, but I'm quietly optimistic they're tracking where we want them to be. But it's a long way to go if we know they're not going to play, so it's likely we'd look at replacements."

In an ideal world, New Zealand would probably have time to reflect on an excellent series victory over England - their fifth home series win in succession and their second over England in little more than 18 months - before heading into another Test campaign. But such are the schedules in modern international cricket that they will instead be obliged to go into a day-night Test in Perth without any sort of warm-up game. Instead, three training sessions - two of which are under lights - will have to suffice.

"It's just another thing to adapt to," captain Kane Williamson said phlegmatically. "Such is the international schedule. We fly out in a couple of days, have a bit of training and we're straight into another match. So it is quite a quick turnaround.

"The conditions - the surfaces - are quite different. They will bounce a bit more. This was a brilliant series win for us, but we're going to have to adapt quickly. We know it's tough - a lot of the guys have been there before - and we know they're very strong, clinical in their own [backyard]. We'll look forward to the challenge."

Williamson also confirmed that opener Jeet Raval, who endured a miserable series, would be retained for the Australia series. Raval made just 24 runs in the series falling to a couple of loose shots in his first two innings and failing to review a leg-before decision which replays show he hit in his third. His most recent seven Test innings have produced five single-figure scores - including two ducks - and a best of just 33.

But his long-term record is decent - he scored his maiden Test century only six Tests ago - and New Zealand have not lost faith in him at this stage.

"These things happen," Williamson said of Raval's grim series. "He has had a number of successful times at the top of the order with Tom Latham and he has been up against a really strong bowling attack here against England. He's been playing well and he's been very successful. He'll be turning his focus to Australia now."

A 213-run partnership between Williamson and Ross Taylor shepherded New Zealand to safety on the final day in Hamilton. Despite resuming with their side still in deficit, the pair both completed centuries - Williamson's 21st at Test level; Taylor's 19th - to ensure the draw. During the course of his innings, Taylor also became the second New Zealand batsman to make 7,000 Test runs (Stephen Fleming is the other) and passed 1,000 Test runs at Seddon Park. This was his sixth Test century at the ground in 12 Tests.

While Williamson admitted he had been fortunate to survive a remarkable dropped chance to Joe Denly - it really was as simple as they come at this level - such is his confidence at present, he hinted that he was a bit disappointed that the rain curtailed this Test denying New Zealand the chance to chase victory.

"It was a great effort form the guys after being slightly up against it after the first innings," he said. "A lot of hard work went into saving the match in the end when rain didn't allow us time to win it. But overall it was a really good effort. Ross' record here is incredible.

"The catch? It was fairly simply. No doubt Joe Denly is disappointed. The bowler, Jofra Archer, certainly was. I was very fortunate. You don't get many opportunities like that."