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Andrew Strauss could only curse England’s injury crisis as a shortage of bowling options meant a record-breaking batting effort went to waste at Sydney

Andrew McGlashan at the SCG02-Feb-2011Andrew Strauss could only curse England’s injury crisis as a shortage of bowling options meant a record-breaking batting effort went to waste at Sydney. The visitors were handsomely placed after piling up 333 but Paul Collingwood suffered a back spasm and was unable to fill his role with the ball as Australia won by two wickets.Collingwood, who was picked primarily for his bowling, joined England’s lengthy casualty list from this one-day series which has left Strauss with the bare bones of an attack. Tim Bresnan (calf) and Graeme Swann (back) are already back in the UK and will soon be joined by Ajmal Shahzad (hamstring) and Chris Tremlett (side), who will fly home from Sydney on Thursday.Liam Plunkett, the Durham allrounder, has completed a 36-hour journey from the Caribbean to Perth where England head to tomorrow for the final one-day international on Sunday, and Collingwood’s injury gives him a decent chance of at least being rewarded with a match for his brief visit Down Under.The loss of Collingwood also turned the spotlight on England’s gamble of playing just five bowlers with the fill-in 10 overs from Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott costing 72. Strauss admitted they will have to reassess the balance of the side heading into the World Cup, but added the injury situation hadn’t left much breathing space in this match.”He had a back spasm so he couldn’t walk very well and he certainly couldn’t bowl,” Strauss said. “At the moment we are a bit short on bowlers full stop. So we were forced into right that at the moment. It’s a fair question to ask. It’s not ideal – I need five bowlers, there is no doubt.”Ideally you will have six bowlers at your disposal; five specialists and a Collingwood-type bowler. We are going to have to decide what the best way of winning games out on the sub-continent is. The likelihood is there are going to be two spinners involved and that allows you to play with six bowlers.”The conditions also made it a tough day with temperatures nudging 40 degrees although England avoided the worst of the heat by batting first. Even then it took its toll on the batsmen with Jonathan Trott suffering from cramp during his 137 and needing a runner to complete the innings.”It was certainly one of the hottest days I’ve ever batted in. That takes it’s toll on the players, the players have played a lot of cricket over the course of this Australian summer,” Strauss said. “It was hard work. It was very frustrating to do all that hard work and not get the result at the end of it.”Trott, who managed to take on fluids during the interval and fielding for most of Australia’s innings, said the coloured one-day kits make it even harder. “It was really tough. It’s just one of those things, also with the blue clothing, it’s not the white stuff, so it heats up pretty quickly.”For a moment during Australia’s innings it appeared another player may have gone down when Kevin Pietersen slid in the outfield and hurt his ankle. He limped off for treatment but returned to send down six overs and claim the wicket of Mitchell Johnson. Too many more injuries and England will struggle to name an eleven in Perth.

Greg Chappell has turned down an approach from the Pakistan board to coach the national team

Osman Samiuddin10-Feb-2010Greg Chappell has turned down an approach from the Pakistan board to coach the national team. Chappell’s name had been floating around Pakistan cricket’s corridors of power as a possible alternative to Intikhab Alam, the incumbent, whose position is currently in limbo following Pakistan’s tour to Australia where they failed to win a single match.Chappell, a former Australian captain, coached India for two tumultuous years between 2005 and 2007. He is now working with Cricket Australia, a role which he is reluctant to leave and he confirmed that an approach had been made. “Wasim Bari [chief operating officer, PCB] rang me yesterday,” Chappell told Cricinfo. “I was honoured and flattered by the approach but I have declined the invitation.”I have no ambition to coach at the international level again and I am committed to my role with CA as Head Coach at the Centre of Excellence and Chairman of our National Youth Selection Panel.”The approach does at least confirm that the PCB is actively looking for a replacement for Intikhab, an issue over which there is considerable confusion still. Ijaz Butt, chairman PCB, told a TV channel a few days ago that Pakistan would have no problems in looking outside for a coach.It was then announced that Intikhab would not be accompanying Pakistan to Dubai where they take on England in two T20Is on February 19 and 20. Aaqib Javed, the assistant coach, is not travelling with the side either. Instead, Ijaz Ahmed, coach of the Pakistan Under-19 side that finished runners-up at the recent World Cup, will be with the team as a batting and fielding coach; he is already in the UAE with the Pakistan ‘A’ side.Bari played down the move, saying it wasn’t unusual for a coach to not travel with the side, especially on such a short tour. He refused to say definitively whether Intikhab, in his third stint as coach with the senior team, was being removed and also denied that contact had been made with Chappell.Cricinfo understands that the board, perhaps surprisingly, has yet to make any contact with Intikhab over the decision to not send him to Dubai, or over his future beyond that, a lack of communication those close to Intikhab say has disappointed him. Intikhab was appointed by the board in October 2008, as a replacement for Geoff Lawson, on a two-year contract. At the time the board was keen to go for a local option. He was at the helm as Pakistan won the ICC World Twenty20 in June last year, but has also seen Pakistan go through all of last year having failed to win a single ODI or Test series.He is due to appear before a board inquiry committee, headed by Bari, on February 13 to explain the reasons behind Pakistan’s performance in Australia. His tour report has already been handed in. The board insists that any final decision on the future of the coach, a new captain and any other appointments, will only be taken once the committee has presented its findings

The New Zealand coach is content to work out flexible agreements with casual contract players

Andrew McGlashan06-Oct-2025Kane Williamson’s availability for New Zealand’s home summer will take a little longer to lock in. However, head coach Rob Walter is content to give a player of his standing the extra time.Williamson, who is one of the group of players to hold a casual contract with NZC, made himself unavailable for the three-match T20I series against Australia, having previously missed the tour of Zimbabwe to play county cricket and the Hundred.The next part of New Zealand’s home season sees them play England in T20Is and ODIs before an all-format visit by West Indies in November.”Kane, we’re still in conversations as to what the summer is going to look like,” Walter told reporters after the Australia series. “He will play, no doubt about that. Just what and where is still in discussion.Related

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“I think the reality is we’re dealing with all the guys on casual contracts, actually in different positions from a playing point of view. Kane is one of those and he deserves the opportunity to sit and talk about what the rest of his year will look like. But I keep coming back to the most important thing, [which] is that he wants to play for his country, and so nutting out exactly what that looks like can take an extra week or two, but surely, he deserves that.”Walter confirmed that New Zealand would continue to be without Finn Allen (foot) and Adam Milne (ankle) for the visit of England while Lockie Ferguson (hamstring) and Glenn Phillips (groin) were unlikely to be fit.However, he was hopeful that white-ball captain Mitchell Santner and Rachin Ravindra, who was a late withdrawal from the Australia series after suffering a facial injury colliding with the boundary boards at training, will have recovered in time for the series which starts on October 18 in Christchurch.Walter was unperturbed about not being able to get his full-strength T20I side together in the build-up to next year’s World Cup.Mitchell Santner is likely to be available again•ICC via Getty Images

“I think we don’t live in an ideal world and so that’s part and parcel of it,” he said. “I’ve been part of a World Cup campaign [with South Africa] where the team assembled at its full strength three days before our first game and that team managed to make a final.”For me, it’s just the way it works. I think what’s more important is the environment and the team culture that sort of assimilates together when it needs to. We do know that by the back end of the India series [in January] prior to the World Cup, that’s when our full World Cup squad will be together.”For me, as long as the guys are playing competitive cricket, that’s important, and almost everyone has been part of the environment at some point so I would assume that they can fit seamlessly back into it.”Should all players be fit and available for the World Cup, there will be some selection squeezes, especially around the pace bowling and top-order batting. Tim Robinson took his chance after Ravindra’s injury to make an impressive hundred in the first match against Australia, while Jimmy Neesham claimed a four-wicket haul in the third game.Australia won the T20I series against New Zealand•Getty Images

“Ultimately when things are operating the way they should, everyone’s not fighting for their position, but understands that competition for places is there,” Walter said. “Ultimately you want your best crop of players in the park and in the squad.”They’re all quality players. At the end of the day, there’s going to be a quality player that’s left out, whoever that may be. As you’ve heard me say many times before, the stronger the player that’s left out, the better the system.”Reflecting on the Australia series, Walter was encouraged by the way his side fought back from 6 for 3 in the opening match and forced a collapse with the ball in the second but conceded they had areas that needed improving before facing England.”There’s little bits [of positives] here and there but, to be fair, we were a little bit off our best game and when you do that against [Australia], who’s won 25 of their last 30 T20 internationals, you’re going to find yourself on the wrong end of the result,” he said.”Some of the areas that we weren’t competitive in are actually quite easy fixes, [they] just require a little bit of extra time on our part…like any loss there’ll be some positives most of the time and then some stuff that you walk away with and understanding that you have to do better as we move forward.”With England arriving, you’ve got a team that’s going to play very similar to how Australia played in the series. So again, we get to check out if we actually have improved in the areas that we’ve identified and spoken about.”

Root and Brook make half-centuries to help set up final-day victory push

ECB Reporters Network14-Apr-2024An Adam Lyth hundred and fluent half-centuries from England’s Joe Root and Harry Brook strengthened Yorkshire’s grip on the third day of the Vitality County Championship match with Gloucestershire at the Seat Unique Stadium, Bristol.Starting the day on 57 without loss in their second innings, with a lead of 120, the visitors ran up 434 for six before declaring in the final session, setting their opponents a highly unlikely 498 to win. Lyth top-scored with 113, while Root contributed 51, Brook 68 and George Hill 58.By the close, Gloucestershire had slumped to 97 for four, Ollie Price unbeaten on 44. Heavy rain is forecast overnight, but may not be enough to save a team without a Championship win for 19 months.Lyth was unbeaten on 39 when play began and soon moved to a flawless fifty off 61 balls, with nine fours. Finlay Bean hooked Marchant de Lange for six over fine leg, demonstrating his team’s desire for quick runs.Bean went to a half-century off 78 balls before Lyth upped the tempo further by striking three fours through the off-side off consecutive deliveries from de Lange.Lyth had just one anxious moment, surviving a confident appeal for a catch behind off de Lange when on 93, before reaching a 120-ball hundred, compiled in seemingly effortless style with 18 fours.The opening partnership had reached 180 in the 38th over when Gloucestershire skipper Graeme van Buuren struck with only his fourth ball of the day. The left-arm spinner pinned Bean leg-before as he attempted a forcing shot off the back foot.It was 194 for one at lunch, with Yorkshire leading by 257, and the only question was how long they would choose to bat. It proved to be all through the afternoon session and beyond in bright sunshine.Lyth fell to a catch at short third-man off van Buuren, attempting a reverse-sweep and the Gloucestershire skipper claimed a third wicket when first-innings centurion Shan Masood, who had moved smoothly to 40 off 52 balls, was brilliantly stumped by James Bracey off a delivery that went between his legs, momentarily unsighting the wicketkeeper.By then Yorkshire were 272 for three, with Root well set. His only blemish was an attempted reverse-scoop off Josh Shaw that only made sufficient contact to score a single over Bracey’s head as he progressed serenely to fifty off 56 balls, with four fours and a six.With a single added to his score, Root fell to more Bracey brilliance as the keeper dived full-length to his left to hold a one-handed leg-side catch off Zaman Akhter. Brook went to a chanceless half-century and was unbeaten on 51 when tea was taken at 365 for four.He had faced 57 balls, striking nine fours and a six when caught at deep mid-wicket off de Lange. Still Yorkshire batted on, with their lead 456, and Hill joined in the array of attacking shots, hitting five fours and a six in his 54-ball fifty before being caught at wide long-on off Price.Gloucestershire were left with 26 overs to bat in the day when Masood made the declaration. Their second innings got off to a poor start when Chris Dent, on five, went to clip a ball from Ben Coad off his pads and directed it straight to Bean at leg-slip.Cameron Bancroft and Price added 41 without alarm until Bancroft, on eight, was caught behind aiming to drive Matt Milnes. Miles Hammond came in and immediately went on the attack.The left-hander smacked five fours and a six in racing to 35, but his approach was inappropriate for a side looking to save the game and he perished attempting another big hit, caught at mid-wicket by Brook off the left-arm spin of Dan Moriarty with less than three overs left in the day.Nightwatchman Josh Shaw lasted just six balls before falling lbw to Matt Fisher and Gloucestershire had thrown away a position which might have given them hope on the final day.

Head coach keen to keep the good times rolling to keep format attractive

Vithushan Ehantharajah09-Feb-2023In another era – heck, even this time last year – an England men’s Test coach announcing that organising is “not one of my fortés” would be a major red flag. Yet as Brendon McCullum volunteered that fault on the first-floor decking of the team’s Novotel Hotel base in Hamilton, the admission was understandable.McCullum was talking about his role as tour guide for the last two weeks. He has taken his merry band of red-ball cricketers on a few excursions, notably a jaunt to Arrowtown – a watered-down Queenstown – where they stayed at a golf course to indulge their favourite pastime. “It’s been busy – a lot of demands on me.” Despite being lauded for his social skills and positivity, he does not back his party-planning skills.Then again, maybe he should know better. After all, we are in McCullum’s manor. Particularly here in Hamilton which is 45 minutes from his home, just outside the town of Matamata. He moved here with his family in 2016, as much for the peace and quiet as relocation to manage his horse-racing business, Vermair. As it happens, he will have representation in the Group 1 Herbie Dyke Stakes on Saturday – originally down as the final day of this warm-up match against a New Zealand XI – at the Te Rapa racecourse just up the road. His horse, Defibrillate, is currently third-favourite. “It might be the favourite after the boys get on it,” McCullum joked.No whip has been cracked in his nine months as Test whisperer, and nine wins out of 10 suggest no need for a change of tack. Even Wednesday’s day-night out with the bat came and went without England testing themselves under lights – the reason for the 2pm starts was to replicate the conditions they will encounter in next Thursday’s pink-ball opener in Mount Maunganui. So what, McCullum shrugged.”The ball’s going to swing and it’s going to be difficult under lights. Do you want to expose yourself to that? Do you not? Does it matter? We’ll find out I suppose.”Related

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Since arriving at the end of January, there have been four days of training in Mount Maunganui, and three more available to those that want them at the start of next week. That is unless Cyclone Gabrielle comes good on her promise to hammer the North Island with as much as 300mm of rain in 24 hours from Monday morning, according to the MetService.And yet, for all the sense of distraction, there is a calculated method to the revelry.There have never been more options for the modern player, as evidenced by over 60 Englishmen spending their winter in various franchise competitions across the world. Beyond the promised riches comes guaranteed good times off the field. And, truth be told, less stress.The honour of representing England in Test cricket has and will sustain for generations, but it is only since McCullum and Ben Stokes landed together at the start of last summer, almost by coincidence, that the worry and emotional toil has been reduced.Factor in a cluttered fixture list and you can see why the management team might feel compelled to offer a little extra, be it perks or simply time to retune to Test cricket’s wavelength.”There’s so many options these days that Test cricket you’ve got to make enjoyable, not just on the field but off the field too,” McCullum said. “Try and get those guys to know when they board the plane to head overseas, or jump into the car to head down to Lord’s, or whatever it is to join up with the team, they know they’re going to have a great time. The results will hopefully follow.”You can’t guarantee that, but what you can do is ensure you put some money in the bank when it comes to experiences and relationships. I think for too long, I always felt when playing anyway, that everything was based around the cricket and sometimes you forgot to enjoy yourself. It’s not until the back-end of your career you go ‘aw, I can actually have a good time now’. That’s when you really enjoy it and somehow you end up becoming better as well. So that’s the theory, we’ll see how it works out, but it’s worth a crack.”Harry Brook slammed a rapid 97 on the opening day of England’s warm-up•Getty Images

Often the beating heart of the franchises he turned out for, McCullum understands how the best of those environments can have nourishing qualities. So far, mimicking those surroundings at cricket’s most unforgiving level has been a winner.”I think the back-end of my career was most enjoyable because of the freedom you generated, you were a bit more comfortable. You realise you can enjoy yourself a bit more, can invest some more time with your team-mates and management and you end up with more stuff in your life. The results seem to work out okay and you have more fun. Franchise cricket is not all fun, but the teams that have that sort of mentality, I think they are enjoyable experiences as well.”You could argue harnessing that attitude has been most impactful part of McCullum’s tenure so far. He even dipped into his Kolkata Knight Riders’ contacts to sort England out with accommodation at the glitzy Ritz Carlton hotel in Abu Dhabi on their camp prior to the Pakistan series. They went onto win 3-0. Coincidence? Almost certainly, though the players did note the restricted movement throughout the month Pakistan was made much easier the VIP treatment in Abu Dhabi, ranging from boat parties, gigs and rubbing shoulders with celebrities at the Grand Prix.In turn, there is an appreciation from the playing group that, once a series begins, the fun stops. To a point, anyway. On the first day of their warm-up in Hamilton, England’s score of 465 in 69.2 overs echoed their 506-run opening day in Rawalpindi in December, and topped up the attacking vim cultivated with the bat.Questions over the long-term sustainability of England’s approach may never truly go away, especially with an Ashes to come this summer, and India away at the start of 2024. McCullum, for now, is pleased it all seems a little more natural, and anticipates further evolution.”I don’t think we have reached the limit and I think it’s still pretty new for us how we’re playing. The majority of the time it’s authentic. I think sometimes we have to force it a little bit, so we just need to make sure that does become as consistently authentic as it possibly can.”But I think the skill level of the guys is phenomenal. I’m not sure they’ve reached where they want to get to in their own careers yet, which is pretty exciting from our point of view. We’ve just got to keep them bound together and encouraged to try and be the best version of themselves.”

India’s coach also suggested that the team might continue to rest and rotate players over the coming 12 months

Sreshth Shah21-Nov-20211:46

Should Axar, Ashwin, Chahal and Harshal be in the squad for India’s next series?

India may have just swept the T20 World Cup runners-up 3-0 in his first series as full-time head coach, but Rahul Dravid wants to take a “realistic” view of where the team stands. He is mindful, in particular, of New Zealand’s hectic schedule: they began this T20I series just three days after their World Cup final defeat in Dubai, while missing their captain Kane Williamson.

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“We have to keep our feet on the ground and be realistic, especially with bigger things down the line in the next 12 months,” Dravid told host broadcaster Star Sports after the third T20I in Kolkata. “It’s not easy for New Zealand to play a World Cup final, turn up three days later, and play three games in six days. We knew it was never going to be easy on them.”While New Zealand were without Williamson through the series and rested stand-in captain Tim Southee for the last match, India, too, missed key personnel, with Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja rested. Dravid said the big positive from the series win was the performance of the players who got chances in the absence of the seniors.Harshal Patel was one of the finds of the series, taking four wickets in two games and contributing a lower-order cameo in Kolkata•Getty Images

Harshal Patel picked up four wickets in two games while returning an economy rate of 7.28, and also contributed a useful lower-order cameo in Kolkata. Axar Patel, standing in for Jadeja, played all three games and ended the series with a Player-of-the-Match-winning three-wicket haul in the final T20I. There were promising displays from the debutant allrounder Venkatesh Iyer and the back-up opener and wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan as well.”It’s been great to see the younger guys come through, we’ve given opportunity to some of the guys who haven’t played too much cricket in the last few months with the seniors taking rest,” Dravid said. “The greatest takeaway for us is to see the skills available to us. We need to continue developing those skills.”Related

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Dravid said that with player workloads in focus over a packed upcoming 12 months, India are likely to continue resting key players across the year and giving new players regular game time. That thought process was in full view in Kolkata, where KL Rahul and R Ashwin – two players who are set to feature in the upcoming Test series – were rested after victory was secured in Ranchi.”It’s really nice that we have options,” Dravid said. “We can mix and match. Its going to be a long season, lots of games to be played till the next World Cup and we need to do that [rest and rotate] with some of our players and be realistic about how much cricket needs to be played.”

Pakistan Test captain happy to play behind closed doors if that helps cricket return to TV

Danyal Rasool10-Apr-2020Pakistan Test captain Azhar Ali has joined Misbah-ul-Haq, the head coach and chief selector, in asking for the World Test Championship to be extended looking at the way the cricket calendar has been affected because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Ali, in an online video conference, said he could get behind the idea of playing behind closed doors should that be the only way to get cricket back on television.”If, hopefully, in the near future cricket is possible and the health of people is not compromised, I’m sure every cricketer will say we should get cricket back on, even if it is behind closed doors,” Ali said. “There is no sport on TV right now that people can watch. They will be happy to get sport back on TV. People’s health is more important, but if we can get sport going without imperilling that, I’d support it. I’m sure the ICC will look at this. The Test Championship was a long competition anyway, so I don’t think it would be a big deal to extend it if the series cannot be held in time; I’d support extending the Test championship.”The series coming up in the Test championship will determine where we stand. We have big series coming up in New Zealand and England, and we need to win at least three-four Tests across those series to give ourselves a good chance of reaching the final. That’s very much our aim, and we’re still looking at those series as crucial to our chances of going far in this championship.”Whether those series can go ahead at all is in severe doubt. That is particularly true of the series against England, which is scheduled to begin in July, with the prospect of the entire English summer being written off a real possibility. The series in New Zealand, in December, is far enough out for any speculation, but with cricket cancelled across the board, the likelihood of the championship squeezing in all scheduled fixtures without an extension appears close to zero.The break in the cricket calendar has also allowed Ali to take stock of his career. Having only recently been appointed Test captain, replacing Sarfaraz Ahmed last October, Ali has led Pakistan in five Test matches. Results have been mixed: a disappointing 2-0 loss in Australia followed by a 1-0 home win against Sri Lanka and a resounding win versus Bangladesh in the first Test in Rawalpindi.”I did want to bring fresh ideas into the team when appointed, and remove the fear factor that players have,” he said. “The players should feel free to express themselves. In a team culture, the captain bears great responsibility for the sort of culture they develop. I want to ensure that regardless of whether I’m in the dressing room or not, the environment is such that everyone thinks about the good of the team. Just as important, we want the dressing room to be a relaxed, not a tense place. We’ve seen – and not just in Pakistan – that when the team is under pressure, the dressing room becomes a very tense place. If you’re doing well, you’re all relaxed, but under pressure, people tend to find corners to hide in.”As long as you keep your emotions level whatever the situation, you take good decisions. Decision-making is affected by tension and pressure.”Ali’s predecessor Ahmed preferred taking central control of all decisions, ensuring he was constantly in his team-mates’ ears and insistent on micromanaging in a way that Ali does not appear to deem necessary. His more approach to cricket, and to leadership, means that according to him, players have the opportunity to relax, as well as understand the captain can only go so far to help them.”Players need to be reminded of their responsibilities, but cricket needs to be enjoyed,” Ali said. “You should know how to relax, and to stay calm when under pressure. I’m happy so far, but it’s still along way to travel. It takes a lot of time to develop trust. The players need to take responsibility for their own performances, too, and they can only give themselves the best chance of performing if they set their fear aside. Being honest, when I go out to bat, there’s as much pressure on me as a young player who just gets into the side. The experienced player has the advantage of knowing how to perform under pressure. What we have to teach young players is how to handle pressure to get the best out of their ability.”

Senior batsman returns after two-year absence to add experience to batting following Bangladesh loss

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Jan-2019Darren Bravo is set to play his first Test in more than two years, after being named in West Indies’ squad for the first Test against England in Barbados next week.Bravo, who hasn’t played Test cricket since the tour of the UAE in October 2016, was recalled to the West Indies one-day squad late last year following talks between Cricket West Indies and a handful of its estranged high-profile players.With 3400 runs at 40.00 in 49 Test appearances, Bravo’s return adds a welcome layer of experience to a West Indies’ batting line-up that struggled on their recent tour of Bangladesh, losing the series 2-0 including an innings defeat in the second Test in Dhaka.He could be joined by two debutants in West Indies’ batting ranks, following the inclusions of John Campbell, a 26-year-old left-handed opener from Jamaica, and Shamarh Brooks, a 30-year-old Bajan who captained the West Indies Under-19 team at the 2008 World Cup.Alzarri Joseph, the Antiguan quick, could be set to play in his first Test since the tour of England in 2017 after earning a recall to the squad, although his fellow fast bowler Oshane Thomas has been named as cover as Joseph continues his comeback from a stress fracture of the back.”After a difficult Test Series in Bangladesh late last year the opportunity presents itself for our team to pick itself up,” said Courtney Brown, West Indies’ chairman of selectors. “Although a tough series against England is anticipated, home turf has always been a place where our team has made strides.”That assertion is borne out by West Indies’ recent home record against England. After surrendering the Wisden Trophy for the first time in 36 years in 2004, they have not lost a series to England on home soil since. In 2009, they won 1-0 after bowling the visitors out for 51 in Jamaica, and then secured a 1-1 draw with victory in the third Test in Barbados in 2015.”With the return of Darren Bravo, who will add value to a batting department, we expect to see marked improvement,” added Browne. “Young, exciting, fast bowler Alzarri Joseph, who was sidelined by injury, returns to the squad and Shamarh Brooks has been elevated for his solid first-class performances over the last three years.”John Campbell the incumbent ‘A’ team opener, who has played first-class cricket for a number of years, will open the batting after a good first-class season in 2018. The panel takes this opportunity to wish captain Jason Holder and his team all the best in the upcoming series.”CEO Johnny Grave added: “The Wisden Trophy has got incredible history and the West Indies have got a proud record to defend. England have only won one Test Series on West Indies soil in 50 years. We hope that our fans will once again become the team’s twelfth man and rally to create the noise and colour that gives the squad the support they deserve and register a win in what will be a great battle.”West Indies squad Jason Holder (capt), Kraigg Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, John Campbell, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich, Shannon Gabriel, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph
Kemar Roach, Jomel Warrican, Oshane Thomas (cover for Joseph)

Australia coach Darren Lehmann said that under lights the pitch at the Adelaide Oval quickens up, and this could fit in well with the team’s plans of using the short ball against England

Daniel Brettig in Adelaide28-Nov-2017Rollover Brisvegas, and tell the WACA the news. Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann has declared Adelaide Oval under lights to be the fastest pitch in the country, adding further ammunition for a pace attack intent on bouncing England’s middle order and tail into submission opposite the considerable wiles of Nathan Lyon.

No curfews for Australia Test team

No Australian team coached by Darren Lehmann has been handed a curfew, and he is not about to impose one now.
As England continued to squirm over Australia’s use of the Jonny Bairstow-Cameron Bancroft incident to discomfort the tourists, Lehmann responded to reports that Joe Root’s team may be asked to ensure they are back in their hotel by midnight by saying such restrictions would never be imposed on his watch.
“We wouldn’t have curfews but that’s our decision and that’s theirs,” Lehmann said. “We have faith in the blokes to do the right thing, but they’re grown men, they’re adults, and that’s just my personal opinion. You should enjoy your successes, there are no dramas with that. It’s just making sure you don’t cross the line. I’m happy with where our blokes sit with that.”
Lehmann became coach in 2013 immediately after David Warner’s suspension for punching Joe Root in a Birmingham bar, and has since allowed his players to use their commonsense in most situations, though levying the occasional fine – notably on Chris Rogers for turning up late to the team’s 2014 Ashes victory celebration at the Sydney Opera House.

The Ashes series leaders will wait until later in the week to decide whether any of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood or Pat Cummins are in need of rest after the Gabba Test – in which case the post will be filled by Chadd Sayers. Either way, Lehmann said that the uncertainty created by a moving pink ball, ostensibly suited to James Anderson and Stuart Broad, will be counterbalanced by extra zip off the surface that can aid the short-pitched attack telegraphed in Brisbane.Starc had noted during the first Test that he wanted to bowl at England on a faster surface than the uncharacteristically docile Gabba had been. Lehmann, present in Adelaide for both the South Australia versus New South Wales match, in which Sayers sorely tested Steven Smith and David Warner, and the tour match in which England got acquainted with the Oval’s nocturnal conditions, said that when the sun went down and the floodlights were turned on that is exactly what Adelaide would become.”It’s a fascinating Test match, there’s a lot of talk about it’ll seam and it’ll swing,” Lehmann said on Tuesday as the teams traveled from Brisbane to Adelaide. “The ball stays pretty good, but you can make runs if you play well as per normal. And it does quicken up at night – probably the fastest wicket around Australia at night, so that’s going to be interesting, how it plays.”[Bowling short] certainly hasn’t changed from four years ago. It’s a bit different in Australia than England where grounds are smaller and you can’t really get away with it, on bigger grounds you can. So that’s one for us that we see as an advantage. They did it quite a lot to us as well, it’s a ploy a lot of people do now. At the back end when the wicket quickened up and we could go after them a bit harder was helpful. That’s the blueprint, it’s no secret we’re going to attack their middle and lower order like that.”You’re more comfortable in your preparation [having played day-night Tests before], you know what you have to do to get ready. So the lead-in is a lot more normal for us than other teams having done it twice. This is the third time so we’re pretty comfortable where it sits. In terms of preparation and all that we’ll be fine, it’s just which team adapts the best I suppose.”Most conspicuously through the stratagems of the touring captain Joe Root, England showed their plans to the Australians at the Gabba, something Lehmann said would be useful for the remainder of the series. “We back-ended the first Test really well, but they played really well in the first innings and we learned a lot about them as a side. Nothing we didn’t already know but it just confirmed a lot of things along the way,” he said. “[We saw] more of their plans, how they want to tackle our group, which was good for us.”In weighing up whether or not the selectors would rest one of the three Brisbane pacemen, Lehmann pointed out that while their first-innings exertions had been considerable, the swift end of England’s second innings and a day five where they were not needed had already helped in terms of recovery.”First innings yeah [they bowled a lot of overs] but you cut it back in the second innings, only 70 [overall] and Lyon bowled 20 of those so it wasn’t too bad in terms of where they would be in a normal Test match,” Lehmann said. “We’ll just wait and see how we go at training over the next couple of days, if they get through then I think we’d be very similar, but we’ll have to wait and see the wicket. It’s just how they’ve recovered, as long as they get through main day [Thursday] they’re all good.”Equally valuable was how effectively Lyon was able to not only restrict the England run rate but also threaten consistently for wickets, to the extent that Lehmann even offered a conditional comparison to the role once played by the usually incomparable Shane Warne. At the same time he noted how much Lyon had grown since this time last year, when he came close to being dropped from the team at the end of five consecutive losses.Getty Images

“He kept us in the game day one, he was fantastic. He’s just grown with confidence and success breeds that,” Lehman said. “For him he’s actually come out of his shell a lot as well, he wants the ball day in, day out, a bit like Warney did when he played. He’s not as confident as Warney was, but he’s just really starting to lead and help the bowlers out, which is great.”We talked [last year] about how he needed to perform but that was like everyone. When you get to that stage everyone needed to perform, everyone was put on notice. The pleasing thing is that he’s bounced back from that, and from that moment on he’s really led the attack. That was a low part, we changed the side around and made it a youth policy if you like from a [Board] directive, so for us he’s done really well.”He obviously had to change a few things when he two’d and fro’d, but he didn’t need to change much in Australia, because you need to the bounce. It was more when he went away from Australia to the subcontinent he changed a few things, he did that and had success. So he started to believe he could change when he needs to, which is important.”Nevertheless, Lehmann said the Australian selectors were still on the lookout for an allrounder of quality to ease the load on the rest of the attack while also making substantial middle order runs. He was happy to hear that Mitchell Marsh is soon to resume competitive bowling after shoulder surgery, while Marcus Stoinis is also thought to be in calculations.”You’d always like one,” Lehmann said. “At the moment some of the allrounders aren’t knocking down the door like they should be. If you look at the past, when we had Shane Warne bowling at one end, you didn’t have an allrounder but you had Steve and Mark Waugh who took [150] Test wickets, so there’s an allrounder in itself. They’re just handy when you have that long second innings more so than not, and if you get an injury during the game. At the moment it’s ok, but you certainly look at it.”

A fracture has ruled Leigh Kasperek out for eight weeks, including six qualification games

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Oct-2016New Zealand Women offspinner Leigh Kasperek has been sidelined for a minimum of eight weeks with a broken finger. X-rays confirmed she sustained an avulsion fracture to her right index finger while training in South Africa last week for the seven-match ODI series which starts on October 8. Kasperek will miss that series as well as New Zealand’s home series against Pakistan in November.Auckland allrounder Maddy Green, who also bowls offspin, will replace Kasperek for the South Africa tour. Green, who last played for New Zealand in July 2015, has played eight ODIs so far but has only one wicket to her name. She is yet to score an international fifty.”We do feel our bowling stocks are quite well covered,” coach Haidee Tiffen said. “Maddy provides cover if we do need it, but we’ve also already got the experience of [off-spinning allrounder] Amy Satterthwaite who now steps up into that bowling role for us, as well as [legspinners] Sam Curtis and Erin Bermingham up our sleeves. And, of course, the class of Morna Nielsen.”While it’s obviously extremely disappointing for Leigh, and we wish her a swift recovery, she returns to Dunedin safe in the knowledge that the team has had very good preparation here and a really good lead-in.”Kasperek, who made her international debut last year, has been one of the leading bowlers for New Zealand. She was the joint-highest wicket-taker in the World T20 in India earlier this year, with nine scalps from five matches and an economy rate of 4.91.New Zealand will miss Kasperek for the six ODIs that will count for the ICC Women’s Championship to qualify directly for next year’s World Cup. Australia, who have already qualified, lead the table (30 points) followed by West Indies (20) and England (19). New Zealand lie fourth on the table with 16 points.