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India captain hints at continuing with current template of four seamers and a spinner

Nagraj Gollapudi08-Aug-20213:07

KL Rahul on change of roles: ‘It’s not new or doesn’t surprise me anymore’

India were looking forward to having a good crack at the remaining 157 runs needed to cross the line to win the first Test, Virat Kohli said at the end of the Trent bridge stalemate. He also said that he felt India had batted with intent on the fourth evening, attacked with the ball all along, and set markers for the rest of five-match series. And, that the XI picked for the first Test could well “be a template going ahead in the series”, though calls would be taken based on conditions.Chasing 209, India started solidly courtesy KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma. This seemed to rub off on Cheteshwar Pujara, who signed off the penultimate day with a square-driven boundary off Stuart Broad. It wasn’t just Pujara showing intent, it was also a mark of confidence from the Indian top order, which had shown courage, good technique, and solid mindset to tackle the most difficult batting conditions – the final hour (as it turned out) of this rain-affected, but absorbing Test, where nearly two days were lost to rain.”We were expecting rain on day three and four, but it chooses to arrive on day five,” Kohli told the broadcasters after the final day’s play was called off late afternoon on Sunday. “We thought we were in a good position to have a crack at the target. This is exactly what we wanted to do: we wanted to start strong.”Heading to day five, we had our chances right in front of us. One good partnership and then you know what happens when there’s only 150 on the board to defend. We certainly felt like we are on top of the game. We bowled well enough and batted well enough to stay in the contest and then getting that lead was crucial which kept us on top throughout the game.”India had been dealt a blow two days before the Test after Mayank Agarwal – the preferred opener in Shubman Gill’s absence – was ruled out because of concussion. Rahul, who stepped in as replacement, did not show at any stage that he had not been considered Test-cricket material since August 2019.Rahul, in the company of Sharma, who was opening for the first time in England, was impressive as he kept India in the game on the second day with his innings of 84. Not just the runs, but Rahul kept the Indian dressing calm despite failures of Pujara, Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane.India needed that assured start again on an overcast Saturday evening when James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Ollie Robinson steamed in under lights. India still ended the day at 52 for 1. Rahul the only batter to fall. Kohli agreed that it was a vital phase of play that India had won.”And to get to 50 overnight is a big positive for us. It wasn’t about survival; it was about getting the boundaries where the opportunity presented itself,” he said. “Our intent is what kept us ahead in the game. Even today the start would have been the same.”Will Shardul Thakur have a big role to play in the series? Virat Kohli thinks so•PA Photos/Getty Images

But the fact that India took a 95-run first-innings lead was not all Rahul’s doing. The credit for that belonged to Ravindra Jadeja, who scored 56, and then Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj added 46 more after he was dismissed.”It’s a hard work of three-odd weeks now,” Kohli said of the last three. “They have been in the nets regularly, wanting to contribute regularly, wanting to contribute to the team. Getting 50-plus runs from those three bowlers was like gold dust for us – we would have been talking about a lead of 40-odd and then we got to a lead of 95 purely because of their efforts.”Just the grit and determination… you know, as opposition, when the bowlers gets runs it can be annoying.”The lack of runs from the bottom order has been an issue for India, and a prime reason for India to tinker with the team combination.In the World Test Championship final, in June against New Zealand, India had fielded two spinners in R Ashwin and Jadeja to have more batting depth. For this Test, they dropped Ashwin, and brought in Shardul Thakur, who had played a winning hand with both ball and bat during the triumph in Brisbane against Australia in January.While he didn’t contribute with the bat, Thakur grabbed four wickets in the Test, key ones at that.Asked whether India would persist with a similar template of five bowlers including one spinner for the remainder of the series, Kohli said it was a possibility. “Most likely it will be a template going ahead in the series, but again, adaptability has been a strength of ours as well,” he said. “This looks like the right template for us moving forward.”

Tweaks to trigger movements help England star develop game after highs of 2019

Andrew Miller18-Jul-2020Ben Stokes says that he took pride in his display of patience on the opening two days of the second Test, as he came through a battle of wills with West Indies’ bowlers to make 176 from 356 balls, his highest Test score on home soil and the first time he has ever batted for more than 300 balls in an innings.Speaking to Sky Sports on the third day at Emirates Old Trafford, where rain caused a delayed resumption, Stokes spoke of his determination to not to get drawn into the sort of errors that caused his downfall in the first Test at the Ageas Bowl, where he was dismissed twice in the match by Jason Holder, for 43 and 46.Asked to appraise his innings, in which his first hundred came from 255 balls, Stokes acknowledged that it had been “different”, but that both he and Dom Sibley, whose own hundred came from an even more sedate 312 deliveries, had been obliged to play the situation due to West Indies’ disciplined gameplans.ALSO READ: Stats – Sibley’s slow show, and England’s second-longest partnership for 20 years“I made a real conscious effort to be as clinical as I possibly could,” said Stokes, “especially around that sort of fourth- and fifth-stump line that Jason and Kemar [Roach] are fantastic at doing.”It was about understanding what we had to do at different times throughout the game,” he said. “I had to be really disciplined in leaving the ball because I know by now that teams will hang the ball wide and test my patience. So I was playing the game with them as long as I could, and waiting to be able to capitalise on anything.”It’s a measure of Stokes’ determination to improve his record as a batsman that, even in the wake of a 2019 home summer that featured two of the greatest innings ever produced by an England cricketer, he was willing to reappraise his technique and work on a new, more open stance that he feels has given him more chance to get settled early in his innings.”I went into the winter and worked a lot with [assistant coach] Paul Collingwood,” he said. “After 2019, one thing that stood out for me was that, early on in my innings, I felt I was going quite hard at the ball, because I wanted to feel the ball on bat. I made a conscious effort to find a way that allows me to play the ball as late as possible for my first 20 to 30 balls.Ben Stokes celebrates his hundred with a gesture to his father•Getty Images

“I wasn’t worried about the change,” he added. “I’m always trying to find different way to improve and I found that getting that trigger from leg stump across to off stump allowed me to do that, and also to get back into the ball as well. If I’m hitting the ball straight down the ground – whether with a drive or a defensive shot – I know that everything’s in pretty good order for me.”The tweaks have borne fruit for Stokes already, but his rise as a batsman had already been in full flow. Since his permanent promotion to No. 5 in England’s Test line-up – midway through last summer’s Lord’s Test, where he made the first of his two Ashes hundreds – Stokes has amassed 1100 runs at 61.11. His career average in that period has jumped from 33.76 to 37.90.”I’ve had a bit of success with that new trigger so I’m happy with where everything is at the moment, but I’ll still be going away and I’m working on things to develop and get better,” he added. “I was disappointed with the way that I got out at the Ageas Bowl, especially in the second innings where I didn’t really have to play a ninth-stump ball.”When I walk down the pitch, I try and make the good-length balls into half-volleys, and when I go deeper in my crease, it’s about looking for the potential to cut or pull. It’s about putting bowlers off their lengths as much as I possibly can, and not allowing them to settle into a rhythm.”But how can I keep playing in the same mentality that I want, but do it better? If I’m going to walk down the pitch, and the ball is eighth-ninth-stump line, then I don’t have to play it. Just because you’re walking down the pitch, it doesn’t mean you have to try and blaze it for four.”

Aaron Finch fell just sort of a hat-trick of hundreds before a limp batting display from Pakistan left them facing the prospect of a whitewash

The Report by Danyal Rasool27-Mar-2019Shoaib Malik said on Sunday, and again at the toss here today, that Pakistan were using this series to test their bench strength. Well, it appears they haven’t got much.It was a grey day in Abu Dhabi, sparsely attended by the locals who’d had their fill with the recently concluded PSL. And that was just as well, because the cricket that transpired won’t have brought much joy. It was another commanding performance from Australia, who, having won just four ODIs in two years, have suddenly come up trumps in six on the bounce. They sealed their second consecutive series win in a fortnight with an 80-run win and will fancy a 5-0 scoreline.Aaron Finch’s 90 – he fell 10 short of becoming the first Australian to score three ODI hundreds on the trot – and a 55-ball 71 from Glenn Maxwell, who was given a life on 27, took Australia to 266. Pakistan, who lost their first three wickets for 19 runs, were never really in the game from that point onwards; partnerships between Imam-ul-Haq and Shoaib Malik, and then Umar Akmal and Imad Wasim, merely delaying the inevitable. With five overs to spare, they had folded for 186 in what the most uncompetitive series defeat for Mickey Arthur’s men since New Zealand whitewashed them fourteen months ago.The recalled pair of Pat Cummins and Jason Behrendorff found early swing that kept Imam and Shan Masood on their toes. Masood has had a frustrating series so far, struggling to replicate the form that saw him impress so highly in the Test series in South Africa. He was the first to fall, edging Cummins to second slip, where Peter Handscomb completed a superb catch. Haris Sohail, who came in at No. 3 was deceived by the bounce, edging to first slip to leave Pakistan tottering as rain interrupted play for the second time in the day.While the rain stopped soon after, the rot didn’t. Mohammad Rizwan was undone by a pearler from a brilliant Cummins who maintained the probing off stump line, shaving the outside edge on the way to the keeper. It brought Imam and Shoaib Malik together for a consolidation that never looked like it could move to the next level. The spin bowlers had come in and showed no signs of letting up on the intensity or quality of their quick counterparts. It didn’t even take one of the specialists to break the partnership. Maxwell drifted one in to Imam, who played outside the line and found himself trapped in front of middle and leg.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

With Pakistan fielding a long tail in the absence of Faheem Ashraf, Umar and Imad came together with the hosts still needing 171 for victory. They tried to take the attack to Australia, bringing up a boundary just about every over while attempting to play through the line on a slowing surface, but with an ever-increasing run rate and a vast number of runs still to get, it was a hopeless cause. Some risk had to be taken, and when a visibly tiring Umar slogged Behrendorff right down deep square-leg’s throat with 118 still to get, that was the end. Adam Zampa was good enough to rip through the lower order, the final four wickets falling in just 16 balls.For a while in the first innings, Australia did have it all their own way. Off just the sixth ball of the innings, Usman Shinwari knocked back the off stump of his namesake. Usman Khawaja needed just two runs to surpass Virat Kohli as the highest ODI runscorer this year but a fast, inswinging yorker meant he will have to wait till Dubai to achieve that landmark. Shinwari was Pakistan’s most impressive bowler overall, going at just two per over in his first spell, and the only bowler who looked in control of proceedings towards the end when Maxwell had teed off. Not long after, the other new inductee into Pakistan’s bowling line-up, Junaid Khan, needed just three balls to make his mark when Shaun Marsh got a think inside edge to square leg.That put Australia into rebuilding mode straightaway. Finch was content to nudge and nurdle his way for most of the innings, departing from that policy only when Yasir Shah pitched the ball up to deposit him into the stands behind the sightscreen. Peter Handscomb was brighter in his approach, beginning by punishing a wayward Mohammad Hasnain with four boundaries in an over. It was another tough day for the 18-year old; he had conceded 16 in that over, and it wouldn’t be his most expensive of the innings. Overall, Malik only saw fit to trust him with half his allotted quota, in which he conceded 50 runs, and still awaits his first international wicket.Progress was slow and when Marcus Stoinis was castled by Imad, Pakistan would have sniffed a chance to get the lower order in. But Finch and Maxwell held firm, even if it came at the expense of the run rate, and a revision of the total they would aim for. Yasir looked more comfortable, and finished off his spell by snaring Finch in his final over.It wasn’t until the end of the 44th over that Australia crossed 200, but a costly drop by Imam at point that gave Maxwell a reprieve on 27 meant the next four overs would be chaotic for Pakistan. As their fielding standards dipped and Maxwell finally hit his straps, Pakistan conceded 47 off the following 24 balls. It was a crucial passage of play that allowed Australia to seize the momentum – they would never let it go after that.

The squad also sees the return of Morne Morkel and Chris Morris, who missed out on the Bangladesh series with a side strain and back issue respectively

Firdose Moonda25-Jan-20182:50

‘Zondo brings maturity and leadership’ – Cullinan

Lungi Ngidi and Khaya Zondo have been named in South Africa’s ODI squad for the first three matches against India starting on February 1. The pair are uncapped in the format, though Zondo was part of the limited-overs squad that traveled to India in late 2015. Ngidi has played three T20s but no ODIs, after a rib injury resulted in him missing out on the ODI series against Sri Lanka last January and he could not be considered for the Champions Trophy squad because of a back problem.The squad also sees the return of Morne Morkel and Chris Morris, who missed out on the Bangladesh series with a side strain and back issue respectively, as well as a return for Tabraiz Shamsi as the second spinner, behind Imran Tahir.The major surprise was the exclusion of Farhaan Behardien, who has been a regular member of the side and currently sits sixth in the one-day cup run charts, where he is averaging over 50, with a strike-rate of over 92. In contrast, Zondo is in 16th place with an average of 43.83 and a strike rate just over 65 but was preferred over Behardien as part of South Africa’s “vision 2019″ – their grand plan to fine-tune their World Cup squad.”It’s important for us to be clear in terms of where we are in our plans. We are starting our vision 2019, which are the players we are looking for,” Linda Zondi, South Africa’s convener of selectors said. “It is important for us to increase the pool and give opportunity so that we know by the time it comes to late this year, we don’t have to be clouded. This is a holistic approach in terms of giving opportunity. This is going to happen for the whole year. There will be guys, key guys, that we are going to rest and rotate.”The rotation policy will apply for the six-match India series and South Africa’s July-August tour of Sri Lanka, after which Zondi hopes to be “more or less close” to a World Cup pool.Zondo is a particularly interesting selection because of his backstory. He did not play a game on the India tour in 2015, even when JP Duminy was injured in the series. Instead, Dean Elgar was flown to India and played, prompting a furore from black African players in the country. They penned a letter to CSA, bemoaning the fortunes of black players and asking for fair opportunities. The following year, CSA made public a transformation target that requires the national side to play a minimum average of six players of colour of which at least two must be black African over the course of the season.South Africa have stuck to that target and Zondo is unlikely to go uncapped again. Zondi explained Zondo is being looked at as having a future in the middle order. “We feel he can play a role in terms of rotating the strike and he does have the strength in terms of clearing the boundary. He has shown potential and his skills in South Africa A,” Zondi said.But Behardien was assured his World Cup dreams were not over. He will come into consideration after the first half of the India series, when South Africa will reassess their squad. “He knows, every single player knows that after the third game, we are going to sit and decide. We will definitely be resting, rotating and giving opportunity otherwise we will be sitting with the same names as we prepare for 2019,” Zondi said.BCCI

Other positions that South Africa woud want to look at are of the spinner and the wicketkeeper, with Tahir and Quinton de Kock well established and a lack of serious candidates to challenge either of them. Shamsi has been around the squad but last played an ODI in February last year against New Zealand. He is the leading wicket-taker in the one-day cup, with 26 scalps, nine more than his nearest contender, at an average of 14.84, but faces some competition from Test tweaker Keshav Maharaj.”At the moment, I think Tahir is still our No.1 spinner. Shamsi will come into the picture,” Zondi explained. “There are a couple of spinners we need to look at. Maharaj is part and parcel. He bowls and he bats, he is a good fielder. Let’s see what Shamsi can bring to the table and we also need to see how we can bring Maharaj.”In the keeping department, South Africa have not named a reserve for de Kock but may do later in the series. “What happens if Quinton gets injured? Is AB going to take the gloves? Maybe not, but we have a plan in terms of a keeper,” Zondi said. “With the keeping situation, we’ve got [Heinrich] Klaasen, [Mangaliso] Mosehle and [Rudi] Second.”The only person who may have to wait his turn is Dale Steyn, who is recovering from a heel injury and is only expected to return to the international stage for the Australia Tests. Steyn has not played an ODI since October 2016 and has not played even domestic 50-over cricket since his shoulder injury 13 months ago. Though Steyn, like so many of South Africa’s seniors, has his heart set on the World Cup, it appears as though his place is not guaranteed.”For now, the main focus is to see how Dale Steyn does in the Tests. He needs to go back to the franchise and see where he is with white ball,” Zondi said. “I am quite comfortable with the manner that he performed when he came back. Now he has a different injury but I am very optimistic. He is part of this vision.”ODI squad: Faf du Plessis (capt), Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Imran Tahir, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Khaya Zondo

Despite the success of Faf du Plessis as South Africa’s stand-in Test captain on this tour, AB de Villiers appears set to resume in the position when fully fit

Firdose Moonda in Hobart16-Nov-20162:16

Chappell: Du Plessis should continue as captain

South Africa’s Test captaincy is not up for discussion and will return to AB de Villiers once he is match fit. De Villiers has been sidelined since July with an elbow injury and has been replaced by Faf du Plessis, who has yet to lose a match in his stand-in stint, but will have to hand the job back when de Villiers returns.”At the moment it’s clear to us that Faf is stand-in captain and AB is the current captain when he comes back, looking at his fitness and so on,” Linda Zondi, South Africa’s convener of selectors, said after the Hobart Test.Although the board and not the selection panel appointed the captain, Zondi said the directive is likely to be to give de Villiers his job back once he is back on the park. When de Villiers underwent surgery in late September, he was diagnosed as needing eight to ten weeks of recovery time which should put him on track to play the home series in Sri Lanka in December-January. De Villiers will not have had any game time since mid-July, when he turned out for the Barbados Tridents in the Caribbean Premier League.Zondi has not expressly said de Villiers will need to play some domestic cricket but has indicated that the panel would like him to have some game time. “We will be guided by the medical team in terms of where he is and in terms of match fitness,” Zondi said. “That’s important. He has been away for five months – a long time. For starters, he has to be match fit. We will take it from there.”Should de Villiers need to play some cricket, his only opportunity will come in the domestic T20 competition. There was some talk of de Villiers joining the squad ahead of the day-night Test in Adelaide, which is preceded by a two-day warm-up game in Melbourne, in a bid to put himself in contention for the pink ball Test but both coach Russell Domingo and stand-in captain du Plessis had brushed off such suggestions. To that end, de Villiers had not traveled to Australia yet, and it appears unlikely that he will.That would mean du Plessis has at least one more match in charge to add to a legacy against Australia that has already seen the team make history. Du Plessis led the ODI side to a first-ever 5-0 whitewash against Australia and a third successive Test series win in Australia. He has impressed with his skills as skipper and Zondi admitted the selectors were pleased with the way du Plessis had progressed.”We nominated Faf to be a stand-in captain and he has done a very good job,” Zondi said. “It was an easy process for us when the decision was made because he was already a T20 captain. So it was continuation. We are excited to have him as a leader.”It just gives us more options. And we have other guys. Like I said, Hashim Amla, who also brings that experience. We are quite excited about how Faf has shown leadership but we are not going to be carried away.”It may be surprising to hear Zondi mention Amla among the leaders, especially after he stepped down as captain earlier in the year. However, Amla is the most experienced batsman, and in the absence of Dale Steyn, the most experienced member of the squad overall, and although he has only contributed 48 runs across the two Tests, has been involved in team discussions and at the forefront of celebrations.

Kenya, led by its bowlers and Nelson Odhiambo’s all-round performance, defeated Namibia by a resounding 92 runs in a rain-affected game that was pushed to the reserve day

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Nov-2015
ScorecardFile photo: Nelson Odhiambo picked up two top-order wickets for 26 in his seven overs•ICC/Donald MacLeod

Kenya, led by its bowlers and Nelson Odhiambo’s all-round performance, defeated Namibia by a resounding 92 runs in a rain-affected game that was pushed to the reserve day. The win took them to the top of the ICC WCL Championship table.Rain had washed out play on the scheduled day of the match and once play began on Monday, Kenya won the toss and opted to bat. The Namibia attack reduced them to 68 for 5 by the 19th over and they recovered largely due to a 57-run partnership for the sixth wicket between Odhiambo and Gurdeep Singh (39). Odhiambo was eventually dismissed for 46 off 81 balls, Kenya’s ninth wicket to fall, but the side received another boost in the form of a 43-run partnership for the tenth wicket between Lucas Oluoch and Elijah Otieno. They lifted the side from 172 for 9 to 215 before Oluoch fell for a 32-ball 33.In response the pace trio of Otieno, Oluoch and Odhiambo knocked over the Namibia top four for just 33 runs, with Odhiambo picking up two wickets in successive overs. Offspinner Rakep Patel and left-arm spinner Shem Ngoche then cleaned up the lower-order picking two wickets apiece. The only resistance for Namibia came from the tenth-wicket pair of JJ Smit and Christopher Coombe who added 56 runs and averted the possibility of the side being bowled out for less than 100. Smit finished unbeaten on 31 off 51 balls as Namibia eventually folded for 123 in 38.3 overs.

A lot has happened to Joe Root in the last six months: international debuts in all three formats and a handful of match-winning contributions

Andrew McGlashan at Grace Road08-May-2013A lot has happened to Joe Root in the last six months: international debuts in all three formats and a handful of match-winning contributions. The role of being England Lions captain, which was due to be his in the winter before the full side beckoned for his services, is another honour in a career that is moving in fast forward.It could easily make some 22-year-olds giddy, but the underlying maturity of Root’s make-up has already been one of the characteristics that has stood out. There are few signs of that changing.”I am still the same bloke I was six months ago really, just six months older with a bit more experience under my belt,” he said. “I will try and keep as level as possible and cricket is the best leveller as a sport you can play in. I will always try and stay the same bloke I have been and that shouldn’t really change at all.”Although it is a heavy burden to place on a player so early in his career, the selectors clearly see Root as a potential full England captain – whether as a successor to Alastair Cook, himself earmarked very early for the job, or perhaps a little later. However, it is not a role for which he can draw from a wealth of experience.”I’ve grown up captaining at age groups and a little bit of club cricket but not a great deal,” he said. “It will be a good challenge to me and I am really looking forward to it. It’s been a while, perhaps a year or so, when I did it in club cricket. I would like to think I will be nice and calm and collected, just try and have a relaxed approach”While his captaincy record is slim he believes he has often “thought like a captain” and worked hard to ensure he has absorbed lessons from whoever he has played under. That includes the perhaps unlikely figure of Azeem Rafiq, the Yorkshire offspinner, who was Root’s captain during last year’s FLt20 and at England Under-19s level.A more well-known source of advice is Michael Vaughan, who may be getting a call from Root before he tosses up with Brendon McCullum on Thursday morning. “I haven’t called Michael yet but I might do this evening and just try and pick his brains and see what he says.

Root beaten to Lord’s

Joe Root might be part of England’s middle order, but he has still been beaten to one of the game’s significant moments by his brother and father. A maiden appearance at Lord’s.
Billy Root, Joe’s younger brother who is on the MCC groundstaff, and his father Matt were involved in an MCC versus MCC Young Cricketers’ match at Lord’s last week. The younger Root did not have a chance to bowl to his dad – “he was out at the other end before he had a chance,” said Joe.
“They’ve played at Lord’s before,” he said. “I’ve been there a couple of times, once as 12th man for Yorkshire. So I’m a bit jealous.” Barring injury, Joe’s chance will come next week.

“That’s why I have learned such a lot because there are so many guys who are willing to voice their opinions and you learn from different experiences, things that work, things that don’t. That’s helped me growing up and I will try to continue to learn.”I have always liked to try and help out when I can. As a young lad you sometimes have to let the older guys take charge but, especially coming back this year, I have tried to help out when I can. Hopefully that will stand me in good stead for the future.”It will be an interesting few days ahead for Root because Lions matches are there for various purposes. It is always useful to turnover a Test side before a series (New Zealand showed that in Queenstown on England’s recent tour) but there are also the individual aims of those eager to stake their claims for future selection.Then there is Root’s batting position, which alters depending on who he is playing for. So far this season for Yorkshire he has opened (with prolific results in the Championship), while for England he bats anywhere from No. 4 to No. 6 depending on the format. At Grace Road he will be at No. 3. He admits to always thinking of himself as an opener, but also had the well-rehearsed answer of “I’m happy to bat anywhere to play for England.”New Zealand see the next four days as an opportunity to strike an early blow against England’s middle order with Jonny Bairstow likely to join Root in the Test squad next week following Kevin Pietersen’s continued absence with his knee injury.”We were able to keep them quiet back home in the Test series and it’s important for us to keep them quiet in this Test series as well,” Brendon McCullum said. “How do we do that? We start that by keeping them quiet in this warm-up game and trying to add a bit of pressure that way. We will implement some plans against them to do that.”That will be another important test for Root. Being a target for the opposition is something he will need to get used to.

Having humbled him in 2009, Kemar Roach has said he will not be easing up on Ricky Ponting as their return duel becomes increasingly likely to have a say in the closing chapters of the former Australian captain’s international career

Daniel Brettig at Queen's Park Oval17-Apr-2012Having humbled him in 2009, Kemar Roach has said he will not be easing up on Ricky Ponting as their return duel becomes increasingly likely to have a say in the closing chapters of the former Australia captain’s international career.Roach was a 21-year-old unknown when he shook up Ponting and forced him to retire hurt with a badly bruised elbow during a Test match at the WACA three years ago, prompting the world’s bowlers to home in on an area of Ponting’s game – the short ball – that had previously been considered his greatest strength.On the current Caribbean tour, Ponting’s first since losing his ODI place, Roach has lined up his quarry once more, defeating him with a snorting delivery in the first innings of the Trinidad Test on the way to five wickets. There will be another few spars between the duo for the remainder of the series, and further slim scores for Ponting will give the national selectors cause for alarm about retaining him when Australia face South Africa in Test matches at home in November. Roach, however, is not losing any sleep over being implicit in bringing twilight to Ponting’s career.”Ricky Ponting’s a great batsman, a legend of cricket. To get that wicket, on a difficult pitch, easy for batting, it’s very good. I’ll keep coming at him, that’s my job, and I want to do it to the best of my ability,” Roach said. “I say he’s a challenge, I won’t say I have the wood on him, he’s a great batsman, I respect what he’s done in cricket, but I have a job to do for my team. If that’s to run at him, then I’m going to do it.”It’s up to him [if he keeps playing]. If you want to be a good bowler you have to challenge yourself against the best batsmen. So I enjoy the challenge. Any good batsman in the world to get their wicket helps to build your confidence as well.”Before departing for the West Indies, Ponting had claimed that their joust was largely responsible for Roach’s swift acquisition of global notoriety and a rich IPL contract, and also indicated that he felt much better equipped to handle Roach in 2012 than he had been in 2009. “He probably owes me a little bit actually because he hit me on the elbow last time out here and I probably got him about a $1.5 million IPL deal as a result of that,” Ponting said with a grin last month. “I feel a bit more in control of my game than I did last time they were out here so it will be a good contest, not just for me but for the rest of our batting group.”Roach said he had provided the best possible response to Ponting’s gentle ribbing by claiming his wicket, and would be seeking to do so again before the series is out. He also felt he had “matured a lot” since their first meeting.”He can say what he wants to say. I had to bowl the ball. I got the wicket, so that was it,” Roach said. “I have no problem with that. Obviously it’s a challenge and I like the challenge and I’m going to keep putting my best foot forward.”sign.

Shahriar Nafees, the Bangladesh batsman, has said Shane Watson’s 185 was a once-in-a-lifetime innings, and his side can take positives out of Monday’s match at the Shere Bangla Stadium

Daniel Brettig at the Shere Bangla Stadium 11-Apr-2011Shahriar Nafees, the Bangladesh batsman, has said his side can take positives out of Monday’s match at the Shere Bangla Stadium, despite their crushing loss to Australia. He said Shane Watson’s storming knock of 185 off 96 balls, during which he broke the record for the most number of sixes in a one-day innings with 15, was a “once-in-a-lifetime” performance, and Bangladesh’s score would have been competitive had they not caught Watson on “his day.”Rather than wallow in the wreckage left by Watson, Nafees said it was better for his side to think about the lower-order rearguard that lifted them from 88 for 5 to 229-7, a total that at the change of innings appeared reasonably competitive. Nafees had played his role in getting Bangladesh to a decent score; he held firm through a top order collapse and got 56. The score may have been harder to chase had it not been for Watson’s belligerence, and Nafees reminded his team-mates of that ahead of the final match of the series on Wednesday.”I think we made a decent score on this wicket and we are used to defending this type of score,” he said. “I think Watson’s innings was a rare innings, a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”Seeing the way he played, I think 300-350 wouldn’t have been enough. But it is definitely disappointing for us. Any defeat is demoralising. But I think if you tell Watson to play this sort of an innings tomorrow, he won’t be able to do it.”It was his day and if you have noticed, I think seven of his sixes were mishits. But all credit goes to him, what an outstanding innings. What we can take from this game is that we recovered well with the bat after a bad start. After losing three wickets we had partnerships and that’s a positive. Putting up a total that can be defended is always something we talk about in the dressing room.”It would be best if we don’t think about this Watson innings and instead think about continuing our batting positives.”Also absolved from guilt in Nafees’ mind is the Bangladesh spin attack, usually far more constricting on a turning surface than they were made to look by Watson.”In the recent past, our left-arm spin-based bowling attack has been useful. If you leave aside Zimbabwe, when New Zealand were here, this attack did very well.””In the last game, apart from the last Powerplay, the spinners did a decent job. If someone plays this sort of an innings, any bowling attack would have badly struggled.”The physical contrast between the stout Watson and the lithe Bangladesh players being stark, left Nafees estimating his own six count in a similar situation. “I think he hit 15 sixes because he’s stronger than our batsmen,” Nafees said. “If I was there in his place, maybe I would have hit 10 boundaries and three sixes. This is the difference.”

Ottis Gibson, the West Indies coach, has said paceman Jerome Taylor is still not ready for competitive cricket and will not be rushed back prematurely, with less than three weeks before West Indies are due to host the World Twenty20

Cricinfo staff13-Apr-2010Ottis Gibson, the West Indies coach, has said paceman Jerome Taylor is still not ready for competitive cricket and will not be rushed back prematurely, with less than three weeks before West Indies are due to host the World Twenty20.Taylor has not played since limping out of the first Test against Australia in Brisbane last November and is yet to feature in the Jamaica Cricket Association Festival, where West Indies are playing Jamaica, Ireland and Canada.”He has not played yet in the festival yet but the intention is to play him later this week, maybe Saturday or Sunday, but currently he is still doing all the strengthening and the ‘back to bowling programme’,” Gibson told .He was picked in the West Indies squad for the Festival and also in the official 15-man squad for the World Twenty20 and Gibson is confident that the rehab is going well.”Jerome is progressing nicely. He is doing all the things we asked him to do. He is doing some bowling and he is doing a lot of strengthening work, which he needed to do since he has his injury.West Indies will be without paceman Fidel Edwards, who is recovering with from back surgery, for the tournament but Gibson is hopeful that Taylor will be available.”He is a lot fitter than when I saw him two weeks ago in Barbados, so the signs are very good for him moving forward. He is getting closer and closer at all times and as I said to him, his main focus is to get fit for the first game [in the World Twenty20].”