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Australia will be pushing for another innings victory in Adelaide

Cricinfo staff05-Dec-2009Australia will be pushing for another innings victory in Adelaide after Shane Watson and Simon Katich took them to 174 without loss on the second day. They remain 277 runs behind West Indies, but the coach Tim Nielsen hopes his men will keep the visitors in the field for as long as possible.”We need to make sure we set a platform and I suppose the best way to do that for us is to aim to win by an innings,” Nielsen said. “[We need to] make a big enough score that we put them under huge pressure in the second innings that they’ve got to survive to get past us rather than having a chance to put us under pressure on the fifth day.”The wicket’s still playing well, but we saw a couple bounce and spin from big Sulieman Benn. As the game goes on, as is traditional here in Adelaide, the wicket will start to go a little bit up and down and we expect it to spin. The big thing is that we don’t get too impatient early in the game. The game moves quickly in the last half because the wicket starts to change a bit.”Brendan Nash, who compiled a patient 92, remained hopeful that West Indies could provide a surprise victory and send the series to a decider in Perth. However, he said it would be a challenge for his bowling colleagues to take 20 wickets within the next three days on a surface that was playing so well.”It’s looking pretty good,” Nash said. “The Australian openers came out and batted quite well. I didn’t think we bowled that poorly to be honest. The last little bit maybe not so great but it’s going to be one of those wickets where we have to get their batsmen hitting to our fielders more so than to the gaps and try and restrict the boundaries. That’s going to be our game-plan looking forward.”

KL Rahul says he has learned the lesson of not linking preparation with results

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jun-20253:12

Rahul: ‘I’ve forgotten what my batting position actually is’

Not many will know better than KL Rahul that outcomes in cricket – Test batting in particular – are not always proportional to your skill, preparation, fitness and application.Rahul has had an anomalous Test career to back it up. He came into this Test having scored hundreds in some of the most difficult conditions during his career – seven out of eight away from home – but never having become the dominant Test batter his game suggests he should be. He averaged 33.57 before Headingley, which is quite underwhelming for a player of so many great innings.”The sooner you learn that there is no connection [of your game, preparation, etc] with the outcome and the results that you get, the calmer you can be,” Rahul said after scoring 137 in an India third innings that threatened to go off the rails in the morning session of the final day. “And I feel like that’s the only thing that gives you the best chance to play at this level for a long period of time. And that’s something that I’ve consciously done as well.Related

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“Having learned this from the seniors that I looked up to, it’s something that I’ve understood and try and do, not just in Test cricket, but in cricket overall. Just all you can do is your best in terms of preparation and giving yourself the best chance to succeed. But again, there’s no guarantees. When you have a good day, you are happy. When you have a bad day, you’re still happy that you had the opportunity. That’s how I look at the game.”The latest in Rahul’s career was the Australia tour where he was called upon to open in Rohit Sharma’s absence and scored 26 and 77 in Perth followed by 84 in Brisbane. At the end of the series, though, his average read 30.66. It left him bitterly disappointed.”It’s always disappointing for a batter when you get starts and don’t convert it and get a big score for the team,” Rahul said. “I was happy with the way I was batting in Australia, but very disappointed at the end of the series that I couldn’t convert. I think I had opportunities in every game, I got starts in every game, and in an ideal world, I would’ve wanted to convert all of those innings into big knocks.”But, unfortunately, I couldn’t do that. And that’s how the game goes sometimes. Sometimes you get a good ball, sometimes you play a bad shot. It’s part of the game, so you learn from the mistakes, and that’s something that I learned from that series, just to make sure that once I get a start, try and make it count and transfer as many runs as I can.”1:32

Draw off the table? – Tongue and Rahul on day five possibilties

This has been a trend in Rahul’s career. He has never had a series in which he has scored 400 runs. That is part of the reason why he has never nailed a position in the batting order.On his last tour of England, he got to play only because of an injury in the nets to his good friend Mayank Agarwal. Then he got the opportunity to open in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy because Rohit was on paternity leave for the first Test.Rahul has taken batting in different positions in his stride. “The last couple of years I’ve forgotten what my position is and what I’m comfortable doing,” Rahul said. “I’m happy to be given different responsibilities and different roles. Makes the game exciting and makes me want to challenge myself and train that much harder and work on my game a little bit more. So I’ve quite enjoyed doing that.”And the last couple of series, my role has been to open the batting, and I’ve enjoyed doing that as well. Yeah, I mean that’s something that I did growing up and all my early years as a cricketer was me opening the batting. So yeah, I’m happy that I’m back doing that, and I’m happy that I’m doing the job for the team.”

Australia’s No. 3 took a painful blow on the finger but was cleared of injury and is now looking ahead to Melbourne

Tristan Lavalette18-Dec-20234:28

‘Pakistan don’t have the belief to beat Australia here’

Cleared of a serious finger injury, Marnus Labuschagne declared himself fit and ready for the Boxing Day Test after Australia’s 360-run series-opening victory over Pakistan on a “brutal” Optus Stadium surface.Labuschagne was one of a number of Australia batters roughed up in their second innings as the wicket deteriorated on days three and four.During the sixth over of Australia’s second innings, early in the final session on day three, Labuschagne was whacked on the little finger of his right hand from a rearing delivery by debutant quick Khurram Shahzad that jumped off a length.Related

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He sought medical attention immediately, but resumed batting after several minutes before falling for 2 having made 16 in the first innings.”The finger is fine, there’s no break. It hit me more on the knuckle side and sort of just jammed up my hand,” Labuschagne said. “It just got me in a bit of an awkward spot. There was no padding on that side of the glove, so it just didn’t feel that good.”I was a bit nervous. I’ve had a lot of finger blows, but it just felt a bit different. It was a little bit sore overnight.”Labuschagne spent an hour in the Optus Stadium nets before play on day four where he was tested by quick Lance Morris, who is arguably the fastest bowler in the country and he was part of Australia’s first Test squad.”It [net session] wasn’t to test the finger out, it was to bat…something I didn’t do enough of in this game,” said Labuschagne, who before this Test had compiled 501 runs at an average of 167 from four previous innings at Optus Stadium.Usman Khawaja and Steven Smith also received blows to their arms, while allrounder Mitchell Marsh was twice hit on the helmet on day four as Pakistan’s quicks resorted to fiery short-pitched bowling.”Uz seems fine and Steve is all good,” Labuschagne said. “It was brutal there at the end with the cracks opening up. We’re all used to the bounce, played a lot here and some of us have good records in Perth.”But no one likes batting when it’s up and down [and] sharp steep bounce on a fast wicket. That’s not your cup of tea, but you just have to find a way when it’s like that.”Emerging unscathed from the bruising contest, Australia will almost certainly go into the Boxing Day Test unchanged meaning allrounder Cameron Green is set to miss selection once again.Labuschagne, who has played 39 Tests in a row, believed the MCG wicket – which has livened up in recent seasons after a dull period – would present challenges for the batters.”The MCG wicket has changed so much over the last four years,” he said. “It’s become probably very much like Adelaide with a bit of seam and swing…quite a bit of grass. Probably will be a little bit of a different challenge to this wicket, which was more bounce.”While Australia’s batters copped physical punishment, a hapless Pakistan may have mental scarring after crumbling for 89 in their second innings to slide to a 15th straight defeat in Australia.”I think it is a big advantage when you’re playing a subcontinent team on such a bouncy surface,” Labuschagne said. “It was certainly one of those tough games that you get in Perth.”

He believes the home side’s attack will be better after the challenging series in India

Andrew McGlashan30-Sep-20222:36

Has Tim David cemented his place in the Australia XI?

Josh Hazlewood believes that bowlers will be in the game during the upcoming T20 World Cup and not just at the mercy of the big-hitting batters.It will be the first time that Australia will host the men’s tournament which will take place at seven venues across the country.In terms of domestic T20 games played over the last two years – which gives a much broader sample than T20Is – Australia ranks mid-table in run rate at 8.22. Australia travel to five venues during the Super 12s stage so will need to adapt to a different ground for each opposition they face.Related

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Due to the pandemic border restrictions, T20Is have only been played in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra over the last two seasons with the latter not hosting World Cup matches.”Think T20 in Australia, it’s probably a little bit better for the bowlers in a lot of regards,” Hazlewood said. “The outfields are bigger, the wickets have a bit more pace, [you can] use those boundaries to your advantage, depending where you are playing on the squad sometimes there are short and long boundaries.”There have been some questions raised about the health of Australia’s death bowling, but in T20Is this year they stack up reasonably well against the other World Cup nations with an economy rate in that phase of 9.85.Josh Hazlewood is an integral part of Australia’s T20 attack•Getty Images

A variety of options were used in the closing overs against India on the recent tour although three of them – Cameron Green, Daniel Sams and Nathan Ellis – are not part of the World Cup squad, while Mitchell Starc was rested from the trip.”It was a great test being in that situation,” Hazlewood said. “A lot of guys got the opportunity to bowl at the end against some of the best hitters in the game on the flattest wickets and small boundaries. There’s always stuff to work on, of course, what fields you want, what balls you want to bowl, but there’s no practice like that [and] we’ll be better off the for the run.”Hazlewood is currently the No.1-ranked T20I bowler in the world – one of only two quicks in the top 10 alongside Bhuvneshwar Kumar – but while the bid to retain the World Cup is the immediate priority, he admitted having an eye on Test season against West Indies and South Africa having played just two matches in the format since the start of the last season.He picked up a side injury during the first match of the Ashes series in Brisbane which ruled him out for the series. He was selected for the opening Test in Pakistan on a featherbed pitch in Rawalpindi before being left out for the rest of that tour, and the two matches in Sri Lanka, as Australia fielded Mitchell Swepson as the second spinner.”I’m really looking to the red-ball stuff coming up,” he said. “I haven’t played a great deal the last few years which has been a little bit disappointing.”

The ICC’s acting CEO has said teams will continue to be ranked based on percentage of points contested

Nagraj Gollapudi14-Jun-2021The shift to a ranking based on the percentage of points contested, which came about thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, will extend into the second (2021-23) edition of the World Test Championship, with one caveat. Instead of 120 points being available over each series, independent of the length of the series, every Test match will now carry an equal number of points. At the end of the WTC cycle, teams will be ranked based on the percentage of points accrued over all the matches they have played.The above points system was revealed by Geoff Allardice, the ICC’s acting chief executive officer, during a media chat organised by the ICC on Monday. As a consequence of several series in the first cycle of the WTC being postponed due to the pandemic, the ICC altered the points system last November, deciding to rank teams based on the percentage of points won from the series they contested.Related

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That shift allowed New Zealand, which was behind India, Australia and England in the points tally at the time, to leapfrog those teams and become the first team to make the inaugural WTC final after consecutive home series wins over West Indies and Pakistan. India’s historic 2-1 win in Australia, followed by a 3-1 victory at home against England, allowed them to book the second finalist’s slot and eventually finish on top of the WTC table.During the 2019-21 WTC cycle, every series – regardless of length – had 120 points up for grabs•Ishita Mazumder/ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Four days before the WTC final, Allardice said the ICC had decided to stick to the percentage-of-points-won methodology as it provided twin benefits. “We are going to stick with the percentage-of-points-won method to rank teams,” Allardice said. “When we looked at the first 12 months of the competition you had teams on a number of points, but it was all relative to how many series they had played. So one of the ways to compare teams on an ongoing basis is what proportion of the points that have been available in the matches they played have been actually won. And that percentage served us well in the second half of the Championship.

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“The other thing is if we are using the percentage of points won we can put a standardised number of points per Test match. So it doesn’t matter if it is a two-Test series or a five-Test series, the same number of points will be available for each match that’s played, but every team would be judged on the percentage of those points it wins, not on total.”The alteration in the points system was originally devised and recommended by the ICC Cricket Committee, which is headed by former India captain Anil Kumble. However, not everyone was impressed by the ICC’s move. Ahead of the four-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy last year, India captain Virat Kohli said the amended points system was “confusing”. India had played four out of their six scheduled series in the WTC cycle at that point and were leading the table with 360 points. However, Australia, who had earned 296 points from three series, toppled India after the revision, with 82.22 percentage points (296 out of 360) compared to the latter’s 75 (360 out of 480).Allardice understood the critics’ view, but said the ICC had had no option but to change the system. “The principle that we had when we created the competition was that every match in a series that was played as part of the Test Championship should count. The point system was also to try and reflect that a two-match series is worth the same as a five-match series. That was trying to make sure that everyone was playing for the same number of points in total, everyone was playing for the same number points home and away.The points system for the inaugural WTC was changed midway through the competition due to the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic•Getty Images

“One of things that happened during this cycle is that it became evident that not everyone was going to complete their six series as a result of some of the postponements due to Covid. So we left the final in the spot in the calendar where it was originally scheduled. But because we are going to have teams playing uneven number of series we needed to tweak to the points system to try and make it as fair as possible and to make sure it reflected the matches that they did play rather than too heavily influenced by they didn’t play.”As it turned out it was a fair system. New Zealand didn’t play one series as a result of the Covid disruption las year, but they’ve still been able to qualify for the final through the strength of their performances in other series. So we prefer not to have changed the points system in the middle of a tournament but due to the circumstances of Covid and the need to ensure that the best two teams got to the final we thought it was necessary that it was approved at the end of last year.”Best-of-three final not “realistic”
Allardice also said the suggestion of India coach Ravi Shastri to have a best-of-three final to determine the winner of the second edition of the WTC – was a good one but not “realistic”, due to the lack of a free window for such an event in the cricket calendar.”In a perfect world a three-Test series would be a great way to decide the World Test Championship,” Allardice said. “But the reality (of) the international cricket schedule is we are just not going to have [a situation where] blocking out a month or so for all the teams in the tournament for the final is realistic. That’s why one-match final was decided upon. Why it is quite exciting is because it brings something new. Here were are – we’ve got a one-off Test match to decide the best team in the world over this two-year cycle.”Draw “certainly a valid result”
Allardice was asked whether it was fair on the two finalists in case the match were to end in a draw due to rain interruptions. Announcing the WTC prize money on Monday, the ICC said both teams would share the Test mace, and the pot of USD 2.4 million, in case of a draw.”One of the idiosyncrasies of Test cricket is that the draw is a result,” Allardice said. “One of things while talking about the structure of the competition was to we didn’t want to start the final with one team having to win and one team having to draw, so both teams start on Friday even. They have five playing days to get a result. We have set aside a reserve day so that if time is lost during those five days it can be further made up on the reserve day. It isn’t a six-day Test match.”And if after those five days the result is a draw, then the view was that the fitting result is that the Championship is shared. Whether we like it or not a draw is certainly a valid result in Test cricket.”

“It does disappoint me when a lot of our boys don’t get opportunities as assistant coaches in IPL”

Saurabh Somani in Lucknow28-Nov-20191:39

‘It disappoints me that some of our boys are not picked as coaches in the IPL’ – Dravid

Rahul Dravid believes IPL franchises are “missing a trick” by not involving more Indian coaches. Dravid feels Indian coaches are as good as any in the world, and even if not appointed at the top of the tree, they will add value as assistant coaches, given that a majority of players in every IPL franchise is Indian.”I believe we’ve got some very good coaches, a lot of good people. I’m fully confident [in their ability]. Just as we have a lot of talent in the cricket department, we have a lot of talent in the coaching department,” Dravid said in Lucknow on Thursday. “We need to give them confidence and time to flourish. I’m sure they will do it.”It does sometimes disappoint me when a lot of our boys don’t get opportunities as assistant coaches in IPL. Honestly, there are so many Indian players in the IPL, there’s so much of local knowledge [among our coaches]. I feel a lot of teams could actually benefit from using a lot of our Indian coaches in the IPL. They know the Indian players better, they understand them better. Even as assistant coaches… there is a lot of talent and ability. It just needs to be given the opportunity, and flourish.”In an expanded role as the National Cricket Academy director, from previously being the head coach of India A and India Under-19, part of Dravid’s remit is to develop Indian coaches in addition to overseeing the next rung of talent in Indian cricket.Rahul Dravid has been cleared by the BCCI to take charge at the National Cricket Academy•Getty Images

“A part of our goal is to create a programme for coaches as well, so that we can give them certain skills in which they can develop – and hopefully then get the opportunities to work at a slightly higher level,” Dravid said. “I think a lot of IPL teams miss a trick by not using more domestic talent in the coaching area and the talent identification area, even if it is as assistants.”That’s my personal opinion. It’s not for me to decide for franchises and head coaches what they do, but I think they miss a trick by not involving more Indian coaches. Indian coaches understand and know the system, and they know a lot of Indian players. Every IPL team has at least 17-18 Indian players. It’s my personal view, but I would love to see a lot of our boys get the opportunity to be in and around that environment. Hopefully we can work with some teams to try and ensure that.”Dravid has been in Lucknow to observe the ongoing one-day series between India Under-19 and Afghanistan Under-19 as part of preparations for the World Cup early next year. Victory in the fourth one-dayer meant India took a winning 3-1 lead in the series. Dravid said the trickle-down effect of the success of India’s pacers had in international cricket could be seen in how many young cricketers were taking up pace bowling at the age-group level.”Every year now in Under-19 cricket, we’ve had some very good fast bowlers,” Dravid said. “Last time, (in the Under-19 World Cup 2018), we had three of them in Kamlesh (Nagarkoti), Shivam (Mavi) and Ishan (Porel). This year also you will see some good fast bowlers in the team.”

The wicketkeeper-batsman scored at a strike-rate of 462.50, slamming eight sixes and six fours

Barny Read22-Nov-2018″Feeling tired? Low on energy? In need of a boost?”We’ve all heard the adverts. In fact, there were probably hundreds of them as coatings of dot balls and most energetic player at last year’s T10 League.They usually come with a handy little vitamin solution with the promise of added vigour and perk.But there is a remedy you ignore at your peril. One so smack-you-round-the-gob invigorating, it can wake a few thousand drowsy cricket fans from their slumber in, give or take, 30 minutes.This is, of course, the outrageously addictive product from Afghanistan; Mohammad Shahzad.Still doubtful? There are ringing celebrity endorsements from the likes of coaches Herschelle Gibbs and Tom Moody that can further sway you.”Unheard of. I haven’t seen such clean hitting in a long time,” Gibbs said. “Everything they tried he had an answer to. That was on another level of striking.””We saw something pretty unique and special tonight and you have to take a step back and admire a performance like that,” added Moody on the cure he described as “something out of the ordinary”.”I’d be surprised if we saw an innings like that again in the next couple of weeks. I think tonight we’ve been treated to something special.”Shahzad entered things on the back of a lethargic start to T10’s second season, ready to write prescriptions for all and sundry with a cocktail of sixes over cover, rasping cuts through point, bludgeons over mid-wicket and those – most powerful-of-all – launches over long-on.His 74 off just 16 balls included eight sixes and six fours. This innings should have come with a warning over dosages.Just let it sink in a minute, 74 off a mere 16 balls.He scored at a strike-rate of 462.50 and had he been up against a more challenging total would surely have blistered a first T10 ton. Chris Gayle’s record-fastest T20 century of 30 balls was well within sight, the extra ball to surpass AB de Villiers’ ODI record of 31 balls would have almost certainly given him a six-run buffer.There wasn’t a single dot ball, it was the fastest T10 half-century, the format’s highest score and the most sixes in a single innings. Shahzad breathed life into the opening night of the new T10 League season with an audience desperately in need of vitality. It had just borne witness to a sluggish start to the tournament that undermines the very essence of T10’s modus operandi.There was lethargy early on, a small crowd taking in proceedings but far from engaged and in need of a pickup. Shahzad well and truly delivered the lift, encapsulating everything T10 aims to be as he blasted a whirlwind knock that peppered the boundary. His innings was just what the doctor ordered as a sleepy Sharjah were invigorated by the Shahzad tonic; inspiring Rajputs into chasing down Sindhi’s total of 94 in just four overs and all ten wickets intact.It was with such majesty that Shahzad dispatched the bowling attack that captain Brendon McCullum was reduced to the role of junior doctor, with a knock of 21 off eight balls. His knock was something to savour, to bottle up and take in small doses at risk of sending your body into a spasm.The dizzying side effects resulted in far greater rapture in the stands for the second game, with the likes of Chris Gayle and Shahid Afridi on hand to maintain the buzz as Pakhtoons set Kerala Knights 110 to win from their ten overs.And Shahzad is not the only chemist on the circuit, there are two fine alternatives in the form of Paul Sterling (40 off 14 balls) and Eoin Morgan (46* off 20). After Gayle departed, they kept the party going with some potent medication of their own as Kerala Knights got their title defence up and running with an eight-wicket win.But it was Shahzad who stole the show on a night two sets of bowlers were left feeling dizzy. The onus is now on them to discover an antidote.

The Global T20 League will find a dedicated block in South Africa’s cricket calendar which is set to accommodate three touring countries before April 2018

Firdose Moonda04-Sep-2017South Africa’s six domestic franchises will compete in all three formats – including a T20 event – in the 2017-18 summer, which will be headlined by the inaugural T20 Global League.To accommodate for the privately-owned glamour competition, there will be no domestic cricket for almost two months, between October 26 and December 20, while the T20 Global League is played. In that time, all South Africa’s national players will be available, but their likelihood of featuring for their franchises has been reduced by a packed international calendar that sees them hosting Bangladesh, India and Australia.The domestic season begins with a round of first-class fixtures which start on September 19, nine days before the Test series against Bangladesh begins on September 28. Four more rounds of first-class cricket will be played before the format takes an extended break until February 8. That means South Africa’s cricketers will be without immediate long-form practice before the Test series against India. Dates are yet to be confirmed but that series is expected to start in January 2018 and CSA are considering other opponents to fill the gap over Boxing Day.India are understood to want at least two tour matches before the series, which could delay the traditional New Year’s Test, but will provide an opportunity for some South African players to get back into the red-ball mindset after six weeks of T20 cricket.The T20 Global League will be played from November 3 until December 16, after which the domestic one-day cup will kick off. It will run from December 20 until February 4, and will follow the usual format of a league round, semi-finals and a final.The second-half of the first-class competition will be played between February 8 and March 11, by which time South Africa will be involved in a four-Test series against Australia which will also coincide with the franchise T20 tournament. From March 14 to April 15, the six franchises will compete in two sets of round-robin matches against each other, semi-finals and a final.For the second season in succession, the T20 competition is set to be played without a sponsor. In the 2015-16 summer, courier company RAM put their name to the event which was broadcast internationally for the first time. It was marred by a corruption scandal which saw seven players, including former internationals Alviro Petersen, Thami Tsolekile, Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Gulam Bodi, banned for between two and 20 years, for their roles in attempting to fix matches. RAM did not back the competition in 2016-17 and it was played with CSA’s sole funding. It appears that will be the case again in 2017-18.

Essex trampled all over Kent in front of their own fans for a derby hammering that soured a truly exceptional night of revelry.

Vithushan Ehantharajah at Canterbury22-Jul-2016
ScorecardRavi Bopara’s all-round excellence kept Essex alive in the tournament•Getty Images

On a night when one campaign would be reignited and another shelved, Essex trampled all over Kent in front of their own fans for a derby hammering that soured a truly exceptional night of revelry. It was standard English T20 fare: ale in the air, kids playing in the array of green nooks that Canterbury has to offer and unhindered sun cheering even the most straight-laced Kent fan lamenting a season in which a side that promised so much has delivered so little.Before the match Ravi Bopara was not entirely sure what Essex needed for a quarter-final spot. Having called the toss correctly, he assumed winning every match might do it. Opting to bat, both he and Tom Westley notched their first half-centuries of the competition to post 190. A turn with the ball, removing Alex Blake and then running out James Tredwell with a direct hit, showed that Bopara was at least up to scratch with the short-term needs if not the bigger picture. He’ll be pleased to know that they now sit in fourth, with their fate in their own hands.With a plethora of English talent on show, Andy Flower was present to soak in an evening when the ground was bursting at the seams with a crowd that pushed the 6,000 capacity to its limit. There was not a seat nor a patch of grass spare on the bank. Standing space, too, had to be earned. The food village at the Nackington Road End was a sweaty mosh-pit of pad thai at the interval. Flower opted for the sedate order of the Sainsbury’s next to the ground.As it happens, he would have made all if not most of his notes of praise during Essex’s innings, as Kent Spitfires’ chase stuttered every few boundaries. Sam Northeast, with 994 Championship runs and, now, over 403 in the T20 Blast, was snipped after 12 balls at the crease, just as he was starting to threaten a thrilling star turn. The returning Lions fared no better: Daniel Bell-Drummond gifting David Masters a high return catch before Sam Billings, given a WWE-style fanfare when he strode to the crease, made a more sombre return walk after just two balls for Masters’ second.Westley shone brightest, coming in during the fifth over and batting right through to the end for 74 off 49 balls. It was typically Westley – a wrist-heavy affair that was more kiss-kiss than bang-bang. He took a particular liking to Darren Stevens, at times allowing deliveries to sit up, on a pitch that responded well to variety, to find gaps on both sides of the wicket.The half-century came off 33 balls, by which point, in the 15th over, Bopara had just 12 from 17 balls. A post-fifty acceleration from Westley allowed his captain the chance to settle before thrashing 15 off the 20th over, bowled by David Griffiths. Bopara’s own half-century saw him redress his stodgy start with 31 off the last 15 balls. Together, they put on 119.Tonight also marked the return of Matt Coles. Since being made unavailable for selection after an indiscretion during the Championship game against Glamorgan in Cardiff last month, the rumour mill has been turning. It is familiar territory for Coles, who is Kent through and through but will find it harder to command the goodwill of a fan base starting to lose their patience with him.News of Coles’ return to the side had not reached those at the ground until the toss, many of whom had already sussed his presence, a spitting burly figure throwing down stumps with Kagiso Rabada in the warm-ups. Brought on after four overs, he conceded consecutive boundaries off his first two balls back but finished the over with the wicket of Nick Browne – caught well by Rabada at deep midwicket- before undoing Dan Lawrence with a change of pace.A penny for Flower’s thoughts: it was he who ejected Coles from a Lions tour in 2013, along with Ben Stokes, as his visit to the camp in Australia coincided with their drunken misdemeanours. Stokes has made his peace by becoming one of the game’s most exciting allrounders as Coles battles on to find his.He needs time to get back to where he wants to be – in cricket and in life. In so many ways, it is hard not to look at Coles and, even considering the self-inflicted nature of his misdemeanours, label him “unlucky”. As one member of that 2013 Lions tour put it: “it’s not that Colesy got drunk – it’s that he got caught”.

ESPNcricinfo lists five issues that should be on the priority list of the refurbished managing committee, led by Sharad Pawar after he swept the MCA polls on Wednesday

Amol Karhadkar18-Jun-2015The elections may have been over, but the problems plaguing Mumbai cricket remain the same. ESPNcricinfo lists five issues, in no particular order, that should be on the priority list of the refurbished managing committee, led by Sharad Pawar after he swept the MCA polls on Wednesday.Involving former cricketers in MCADuring the last MCA annual general meeting, former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar had supported a proposal to amend the rulebook and allow voting rights to only those who have attended at least four general body meetings. As much as it is a proposal to keep the flock of politicians entering the MCA at bay, the move may help former cricketers gain some sort of importance in administering the game.More importantly, the need of the hour for the MCA is to integrate at all levels. Till very recently, Mumbai has had a long tradition of former cricketers watching games from sidelines on the maidans and giving valuable advice to youngsters. Somehow, the trend has been missing over the last few years.”The need is to involve passionate former cricketers who have got nothing to do with club cricket. They shouldn’t be associated with any office or club lobbies so they come in with neutral views,” says former Mumbai captain Amol Muzumdar.Feeder lines alternate to age-group systemsWhile inter-school cricket has traditionally been the first line of supply to Mumbai’s rich legacy of producing international cricketers, inter-college tournaments have served as the platform to hone skills for talented cricketers. Of late, though, both have suffered due to various problems.”With cricket having spread to remote suburbs like Palghar, Dahanu and Badlapur, Ambarnath (all of which are more than 100kms from south Mumbai), the traditional Harris and Giles shield tournaments are not providing necessary platforms to spot talent. After all, both these inter-school tournaments are restricted to schools that are in the jurisdiction of the municipal corporation,” says Vengsarkar, who was elected as a vice-president for the fifth time.As for the schools that participate in the Harris and Giles Shield, the most rampant problem has been of overage players. Age-fudging results in getting laurels to a select few schools year after year, and overage players end up overshadowing promising cricketers, many of whom give up the game even before blooming as cricketers.”If overage thing is ruining school cricket, put in place a system that would bar it. Or have an alternative, like playing the Harris and Giles matches on the same day so that it would put considerable brakes on the age-fudging problems,” says Muzumdar.Making optimum use of infrastructureThe MCA’s academy at the Bandra-Kurla Complex is one of the plushest facilities, indoor and outdoor. Same is the case with the new club house in Kandivali. But over the last couple of years, the academy at BKC has resulted into a dormant facility, with want of quality coaches.”It’s a dummy academy. Yes, it’s a world-class academy in terms of infrastructure but if it’s not run efficiently, there’s no use of it,” Muzumdar observes. “For that, a good thought process needs to go in it. Otherwise it will just be one more academy. Let’s hope quality coaches are roped in to achieve the primary objective of setting up the academy, which is to produce cricketers.”Making the tournament structure more competitiveDuring their topsy-turvy 2014-15 Ranji Trophy season, Mumbai used a whopping 25 players, nine of whom made their first-class debuts. More than half of those debutants were exposed as they never appeared to be ready for the format. It was in stark contrast to Mumbai’s history to have a second rung of players ready to push those in the first XI.It is primarily due to the lack of a tournament structure that focusses only on quantity rather than quality. Two years ago, the ruling MCA regime drastically changed the club tournament structure, which resulted in the Kanga League, that used to test the batsmen’s technique, but it has lost its charm for being the only monsoon tournament in India.Though the revised structure has given more opportunities to cricketers to pile on the numbers, it has created confusion about what exactly is the selection tournament for the senior team. “Please restore Kanga League. Club cricket is the lifeline of Mumbai cricket,” Muzumdar pleads.Similarly, Vengsarkar had proposed a T20 franchise league, towards the end of his eight-year stint as vice-president, to give more opportunities to fringe players. The proposal had resulted into a Corporate Twenty20 tournament, which has also been stalled for the last few years.”If the corporate tournament is revived, it will not only help us create a bigger bench strength but may also help cricketers getting employment even in private sector. That coupled with a restructured college tournament can give us two additional options for fringe players to make a case for senior team selection,” Vengsarkar says.Women’s cricket and communication wingWomen’s cricket has largely been ignored by all the BCCI member units and MCA is no exception. But with a steady stream of Mumbai cricketers into the national team, it’s high time the MCA comes up with infrastructure and tournament structure for women. President Sharad Pawar’s announcement of creating a provision for female representation on the managing committee is a welcome move, to begin with.And equally important for the MCA is to improve its communication world. In the era of cyber age, MCA’s website wears an ancient look. Statistics and records are outdated and it’s not at all a user-friendly portal.Combining both the factors, Muzumdar sums up aptly: “It’s time for Mumbai cricket to be trendsetters like yesteryears. Be it in any walk of the game, Mumbai has set the trend and the rest of the Indian cricket fraternity has followed them. If we can do it early, it would put Mumbai cricket back to where it has belonged.”