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Usman Khawaja’s absence is a significant pointer as the probable inclusion of an allrounder in Australia’s XI means only five specialist batting positions will likely be available

Brydon Coverdale17-Feb-2017Usman Khawaja could be facing the axe from Australia’s team for the first Test against India, after being left out of the XI for the tour match against India A in Mumbai.Shaun Marsh was preferred for the three-day game, which is Australia’s only warm-up match before the first Test in Pune. Although the tour-match XI will not completely correspond to Australia’s Test XI – Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood are both being rested – the absence of Khawaja is a more significant pointer.The probable inclusion of an allrounder in Australia’s XI means only five specialist batting positions will likely be available: David Warner, Matt Renshaw, Steven Smith, Peter Handscomb and Shaun Marsh were all named in the tour match XI.Khawaja’s disappointing record in Asian conditions could leave him on the outer. In four Tests in Asia – all in Sri Lanka – he has scored 115 runs at 19.16, and he was dropped mid-tour during Australia’s series in Sri Lanka last year. His wider first-class record in Asia – including tour games and Australia A matches – is 389 runs at 32.41. In his past 14 first-class innings in Asia, he has not passed 50.Marsh, by comparison, has played three Tests in Asia – like Khawaja, all in Sri Lanka – but has made two centuries and averages 78.60 in those games. Unlike Khawaja, who has played Australia A first-class matches in India, Marsh is yet to make any first-class appearance in India, and the selectors hope that his ability against spin might help strengthen Australia’s batting order in this series.However, despite his struggles in Asia, Khawaja is coming off a productive home summer, in which he scored 581 runs at 58.10 from six Tests against South Africa and Pakistan. Last month, when the Test squad for this tour was announced, national selector Trevor Hohns was asked whether Khawaja’s retention for the first Test would depend on his form in the training camp in Dubai, and the tour game.”We see Usman as one of our best five or six batsmen,” Hohns said at the time. “He’s included because of that. We would expect Usman to do everything he possibly can to improve his play. He wasn’t great in Sri Lanka – and once again, he knows that and understands that. We want to see him improve his play in those conditions against spin bowling. He’s one of our best batsmen, so there’s no reason why he can’t do the job.”Marsh began the home summer as Warner’s opening partner, but after scoring 63 and 15 in the first Test against South Africa in Perth, he missed the remainder of the Tests due to injury. In his previous two Tests – against West Indies in Hobart in December 2015, and against Sri Lanka in Colombo in 2016 – Marsh had scored centuries.Writing for ESPNcricinfo this week, former Test wicketkeeper Brad Haddin said if he was choosing the XI for the first Test in Pune, he would pick Marsh ahead of Khawaja.Australia XI for tour game David Warner, Matt Renshaw, Steven Smith (capt), Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Wade (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Steve O’Keefe, Nathan Lyon, Jackson Bird.

MS Dhoni has said his successor Virat Kohli would go on to win more games than he did, and that his team would “rewrite history” and become the most successful India side

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Jan-20175:16

I think the team will do something very special in the coming years – Dhoni

Former India captain MS Dhoni has said his successor Virat Kohli would go on to win more games than he did, and that his team would “rewrite history” and become the most successful India side of all time.”That’s the kind of potential they have, that’s the kind of experience they have,” Dhoni said in Pune, in the lead up to the ODI series against England, Kohli’s first assignment as full time limited-overs captain. “If it is [about] the numbers, I think Virat and this team will win more games than me in all the formats.”Since Kohli took over the Test captaincy from Dhoni in January 2015, India won 14 out of 21 games, their lone defeat coming nearly a year and a half ago. During the same period India, under Dhoni, had a patchy ODI record – 15 losses in 33 matches – but did better in T20Is – 15 wins in 23 games. They also made the semi-finals of both the 2015 World Cup and the 2016 World T20.Kohli, R Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammad Shami had played crucial roles in those successes. All of them – apart from Ashwin – are under 30.”Though they are young, they have played a lot of cricket both in India and outside, and in pressure situations,” Dhoni said. “They have played in knockout tournaments – when it comes to the ODI and the T20 formats – and they have played under pressure. We’ve played a lot of Tests in India but they were not easy Test matches – we played on a lot of turning wickets where the lower order’s contribution was very important.”The whole pool of players seems to be one that will play cricket in the right spirit, the way it is supposed to be. I think they will do something very special in the coming years. Of course, the period will be slightly longer because they will be together for a long period. So, hopefully, with no injuries or serious problems to the core members of the group, they will do very well.”Dhoni said he and Kohli had hit it off from the start and praised Kohli for constantly raising the bar for himself.Dhoni on Kohli: “What’s brilliant is that if I go up to him with 100 ideas, he is comfortable saying no to all of them …”•AFP

“In Indian cricket, we’ve seen more often than not that a lot of cricketers, say, when they get five games and if they are out of the side, they’re always worried about the two games they didn’t get,” Dhoni said. “The best part about Virat is he wanted to improve in whatever chances he got. And that is the reason he is so successful right now.”If he scores a 60 or 70, he wanted to score a 100. He wanted to be there at the crease when India are chasing. So, I felt that was the key factor for me, and right from the start we have interacted a lot. He has improvised his cricket and his thinking.”Dhoni said Kohli would find the shorter formats easier as captain. “With more responsibility on him, he’ll keep getting better. My job will be to give him whatever my thoughts are from behind the stumps – reading the batsman, how they’re batting, what their strengths are, how the bowler is bowling.”What’s brilliant is that if I go up to him with 100 ideas, he is comfortable saying no to all of them because that’s what his responsibility is: to pick and choose what he’s really convinced about. I think that kind of relationship is very important because I shouldn’t feel, ‘Okay, if I am saying something, that should happen’, and he shouldn’t feel as if whatever is coming from my side, has to be implemented.”As captain, Dhoni hd moved up and down the batting order to suit the team’s interests. He did not think that would change under Kohli’s leadership.”Because I was the captain, I always felt because it was difficult for newcomers to come and bat at six or seven, I should be the person who takes that added responsibility of playing lower down the order,” he said. “I would’ve preferred batting at four and playing more overs, but felt it was more important to see if somebody else can bat at four and if I can bat at five, and that gives more power to our batting line-up.”At times, I found individuals can be very rigid. It is very difficult to adjust to that new mindset or change the game the way it is supposed to be played according to the team or that slot. I thought I was somebody who could do that and I was willing to do that for the team. It is the same as of now. If I am supposed to bat at Nos. 4,5,6,7, whatever the demand is for the team’s betterment, I am ready to bat there.”

George Garton scores career-best 97 as five Sussex batsmen pass fifty

ECB Reporters Network16-Apr-2021A hundred from Stiaan van Zyl and a career-best 97 from George Garton led the way for Sussex who recovered from a middle-order collapse to lead Glamorgan by 196 runs at the end of day two of their LV=Insurance County Championship match in Cardiff.Sussex continued their excellent start to their first innings with Aaron Thomason and Tom Haines setting a platform for Sussex who were 211 for 1 at lunch.Three wickets for seven runs meant that Glamorgan had given themselves an opening to get back into the match but first van Zyl and then Garton took Sussex up to their opponents’ total and beyond.Sussex made serene progress in the opening session, the only moment of success for Glamorgan was a stunning caught-and-bowled from Michael Hogan to dismiss Thomason for 67. As has so often been the case, Hogan was the pick of the Glamorgan bowlers and he was the one man to cause real trouble for Sussex.It was Hogan who brought Haines’ innings to an end when he trapped him lbw just after lunch. He could have had a second wicket in the same over if Nick Selman could have held on to a sharp chance at second slip to dismiss Tom Clark.Clark made 19 before he drove a ball into the off side to give James Weighell a catch off Dan Douthwaite. Sussex captain Ben Brown went on the very next ball when he had a big swish at a wide ball and was caught behind.When Delray Rawlins played around a straight ball from Callum Taylor for two Sussex had stumbled from 254 for 2 to 261 for 5.While all of this was happening, van Zyl was imperious, recording the 28th hundred of his career. He was brutal on anything over-pitched but played the drive one too many times and was well caught by Chris Cooke off the bowling of Timm van der Gugten for 113.With van Zyl gone, Glamorgan had a chance to wrap up the Sussex innings but Garton and Ollie Robinson took the game away from them as they built a huge lead.Garton was denied his maiden hundred when he was trapped lbw by Hogan but he played his part in a fine Sussex effort that saw them reach 481 for 9 at the close with Robinson undefeated on 67.

James Foster’s late heroics carried Essex to a barely credible tie in a rain-affected Royal London Cup match.

ECB Reporters Network12-Jun-2016
ScorecardJames Foster’s late hitting kept Essex afloat (file photo)•Getty Images

James Foster’s late heroics carried Essex to a barely credible tie in a rain-affected Royal London Cup match.Essex had looked dead and buried when the ninth wicket fell with four overs remaining and 38 runs required. They still required 26 off the last two and 16 off the last, but with Foster seeing the ball like a football they clawed their way to a share of a thrilling contest.Wicketkeeper Alex Barrow gave Essex hope when he let past four byes from the first ball of the final over. Foster hit a four off the second ball and, after two dot balls, thumped a massive six over cow corner from the fifth ball. Then Foster and Matt Quinn scampered a bye to the wicketkeeper off the last ball as the rain returned.Foster finished with an unbeaten 75 off 50 balls, including eight fours and three sixes. He scored all the runs in a last-wicket stand of 37.Under Duckworth-Lewis calculations, Essex had been set a target of 177 – two runs less than Somerset had posted – in a match reduced first to 47 overs and then to 29 because of the weather.It initially looked as if Somerset’s Adam Hose was going to be the match-winner. The 23-year-old, who has yet to make a first-class appearance for Somerset, hit 77 off 83 balls, with 10 fours, to beat his previous List A best by 31 runs.Hose shared a third-wicket stand of 141 in exactly 20 overs with his captain Jim Allenby after Essex put the visitors in.When Essex batted, the heart was ripped out of their batting by a hostile opening spell by Tim Groenewald, who took three for 30, aided by Lewis Gregory, who snapped up two wickets in two balls and finished with four for 23.Just three overs were possible in the morning before rain stopped play, the fielders departing straight after David Masters claimed the prized scalp of Johannes Myburgh, caught at wide mid-off low down by Ravi Bopara for 7.When they resumed nearly three hours later, Peter Trego lasted just five balls on his 35th birthday before he got a massive edge to Masters and was caught at third man by Graham Napier.Hose and Allenby steadied the Somerset ship and then accelerated mid-innings. Hose grew in confidence the longer he batted and went past his previous highest List A score of 46 with a cut for four off Ryan ten Doeschate. He reached his half-century from 62 balls with a push through midwicket off Matt Quinn.Soon after, Allenby reached a 40-ball fifty when a single into the offside off ten Doeschate also brought up the century partnership in 15.4 overs. Later, he chipped Napier over Dan Lawrence’s head on the midwicket boundary for six as Somerset piled on the runs.Allenby fell on 68 when Bopara ran round at cow corner to take the catch sprawling on the ground 10 yards inside the boundary. The captain had batted, in all, for 52 balls and hit five fours and two sixes. Hose departed five runs later when he clipped Napier to Nick Browne at deep midwicket.James Hildreth had almost perished the ball before when Quinn dropped him at long-on. But Napier claimed a second wicket in the over when he bowled Hildreth before Bopara had Lewis Gregory chasing a wide delivery to be caught behind.Somerset lost six wickets while adding 22 late runs with Bopara mopping up with two in the final over for personal figures of 3 for 49. Jesse Ryder took a fine running catch on the midwicket boundary to dismiss Jamie Overton and substitute fielder Callum Taylor accounted for the other Overton, Craig, off a skier.Essex’s reply got off to a terrible start when Browne scooped the ball straight back into Groenewald’s hands in the first over.The South African then claimed wickets in each of his next two overs, having Ryder caught at second slip by Allenby and Tom Westley spooning a catch to Jamie Overton at mid-on.In the next over Lewis Gregory gained lbw decisions against Lawrence and ten Doeschate in successive balls to reduce Essex to 36 for 5.Bopara and Ashar Zaidi doubled the score in eight overs without ever being in control, before Zaidi was caught behind at the second attempt by Alex Barrow. Bopara didn’t last much longer, holing out tamely to Gregory at mid-on for 19.Foster, however, served notice of his fighting spirit when he lofted Jamie Overton over midwicket for successive sixes before reaching a 33-ball fifty. Napier had helped Foster put on 48 for the eighth wicket in 5.3 overs before misjudging a ball from Gregory to Craig Overton at mid-on.Masters gave Gregory his fourth wicket by squirting a catch to silly mid-on, but it did nothing to dampen Foster’s late pyrotechnics.

Desire is still there to remain a multi-format player, Buttler says

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jan-2022Jos Buttler says he remains committed to playing Test cricket, despite a disappointing Ashes campaign and mounting pressure on England players and management.Australia took an unassailable 3-0 series lead with comprehensive victories in Brisbane, Adelaide and – most emphatically – inside two and a half days in Melbourne, but Buttler insisted England had plenty to play for to avoid a 5-0 sweep. Personally, he spoke of his desire to remain a multi-format player despite his Test form struggling to match his stellar limited-overs record and the demands of travelling for extended periods with a young family.”It’s certainly my ambition,” Buttler said from Sydney, where England are preparing for the fourth Test, starting on Wednesday (Tuesday night UK time). “I don’t think I’d have put as much into it as I have done if it wasn’t.Related

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“I have fantastic family support – they’re very supportive of me and my career, and make a lot of sacrifices for that. That’s one thing that gives you a lot of motivation and drive to try to make it all worth it. It’s certainly maintained my drive and ambition to try and play.”Asked if he hoped to be part of England’s squad due to play three Tests in the Caribbean in March, Buttler said: “Yes, I hope so.”During an Ashes campaign in which England’s highest team total has been 297, Buttler is averaging 19.20. In 56 Tests, he averages 32.53 with just two centuries.Buttler faced 207 balls for 26 in a spirited rearguard on the last day of the second Test in Adelaide, having come in on a pair, but he holed out to deep midwicket off Nathan Lyon on the stroke of tea in England’s first innings at the MCG. He took a brilliant catch to dismiss Marcus Harris in Adelaide but made costly drops in the same match.”In hindsight, just before a tea break is obviously a poor time to get out, but I wanted to be attacking and positive in that innings,” Buttler said of his dismissal to Lyon in Melbourne. “Mid-on and mid-off were up. I saw that as an opportunity to score, I didn’t execute that. That’s all it is.”It’s a very lonely place dropping a catch,” he added. “It’s one of the worst feelings in cricket, letting down your mates. It doesn’t just hurt you, it hurts the whole team. You’ve certainly got to be able to be very strong with your character to try to come through that. Especially when you’re wicketkeeping, there’s nowhere to hide.”Buttler’s comments came after South Africa wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock’s shock decision to retire from Test cricket at the age of 29.”That’s Quinton’s own personal situation, but as a fan of cricket and a huge fan of his, I’m disappointed that he’s at that stage,” said 31-year-old Buttler. “I love watching him bat, keep wicket and play Test cricket. The world of cricket will miss him in that format. But I guess commend him for making a decision that’s right for him.”Buttler said the entire England team were hurting, given their defeats by nine wickets in Brisbane, 275 runs in Adelaide and an innings and 14 runs in Melbourne. England have now lost 18 of their last 23 Tests in Australia, including 12 of the last 13.”There’s an overriding sense of disappointment and frustration with the situation we’ve found ourselves in,” Buttler said. “We’ve not competed or played the cricket we wanted to at the start of the tour. We’re not gelling as a group and individually playing well enough to compete with Australia. We certainly don’t want to be a team to lose 5-0.”

Financially-stricken Durham have secured a financial rescue package from Durham County Council which will further help to secure their future

David Hopps19-Oct-2016Financially-stricken Durham have secured a financial rescue package from Durham County Council which will further help to secure the future of professional cricket in England’s most northerly outpost.Durham County Council has agreed to convert loans of £3.74m into shares, so freeing the county from interest payments on long-standing debts.Under the ECB-brokered settlement, Durham County Council has agreed to convert its debts into redeemable preference shares. The ECB has restructured Durham as a community interest company, which enables it to distribute up to 35% of profits – should they become available – to shareholders.The council has received interest payments of around £700,000 on their loans since 2009 – variously charging 4.7% and 7% annually on the loans. The council’s own calculations state that with interest rates at record lows they would only have made £140,000 interest in the same period by conventional investments.

Durham’s pre-rescue debt spiral

Durham County Council: £3,740,000
ECB: £2,986,000
CR Financial Solutions: £788,000
North East Local Enterprise Partnership: £771,000
Outgoing directors: £415,000
Total: £8,700,000

The agreement follows the ECB’s own £3.8m rescue package, which included writing off nearly £2m of its own loans to the county.That bailout came with punitive measures: the sacking of the Durham board, relegation from Division One of the Championship and penalty points in all three competitions at the start of next season.But Durham can stage ODIs and T20Is and it is here, combined with stringent cost cutting and a growth in their mediocre T20 attendances, where it is hoped future profitability lies.The terms of the ECB rescue package were enforced by the ECB after Durham’s long-standing failures to attract investment into the club brought their financial problems to a head this year. Payments to service debt interest were running at nearly £1m a year.The ECB told the council that only one party – unnamed – had showed interest, but the approach was rejected because of their “fit and proper person” guidelines, which are designed to prevent clubs being bled dry by investors without its best interests at heart.Council representatives were told if they also failed to agree to the rescue there was “a significant risk” that the club would enter administration, leaving the bulk of their loan lost. Durham County Council already owns the land the club’s Riverside ground is built on, and leases it to the club.A cursory Durham statement said: “The club’s difficult financial position was brought to a head earlier in the year by the unexpected calling in of a long term loan and the challenge of securing, in time, private development investment.”The club is pleased that this has been achieved without the need for significant public debt write off as has been the case elsewhere in cricket.”Durham’s secrecy has long been illustrated by their refusal to reveal the identity of two long-term financial backers in the Middle East who are no longer involved with the club.Durham County Council has shown rather more detailed commitment to local democracy than the cricket club it has now helped to save.A council report available here states: “DCCC had hoped that commercial and residential developments on the site could have provided much needed financial security but it was unlikely that these benefits could be realised quickly enough.”Over the last three years the council has worked with DCCC to significantly reduce their costs with circa £1million in costs taken out of the business – mainly from a significant reduction on player costs.”Similarly, the council has worked closely with the club to drive forward commercial development of the site including a hotel and conference centre which would help derive additional income for the club.”Without additional financial support from the ECB via an ‘all creditor’ agreement and a restructuring of loans or a significant injection of capital from an alternate source, the club could not continue to run on a solvent basis and across the summer appointed an insolvency practitioner to advise the Board on options available to it.”The appointed insolvency practitioner (RSM UK) undertook soft market testing to gauge interest in purchasing the club across the summer, although they were unable to find suitable buyers.”There has been less support so far in writing off or converting debts into equity from other creditors.Both CR Financial Solutions, a London-based company which focuses on real estate, bought out Durham’s outstanding bank debt of £788,000, and the North East Local Enterprise Partnership, is owed £771,000. Both have been unresponsive. The club’s outgoing directors depart with collective debts of £415,000 still owed to them.The ECB is expected to take on the bank debt from CR Financial Solutions, so protecting the future of the ground, and further increasing its own indebtedness.It has already agreed to write off nearly £2m of loans and, as part of the deal, has withdrawn Durham’s Test match status, a convenient solution to the recognition that the dash for growth over the past decade or so has left more grounds seeking Test fixtures than are sustainable.

As Zimbabwe seek to level the two-match series, they will have to overcome persistent failings with bat and ball

The Preview by Firdose Moonda05-Aug-2016

Match facts

August 6-11, Bulawayo
Start time 0930 local (0730 GMT)

Big Picture

A week ago, Zimbabwe were wondering how to stay alive in the first Test against New Zealand. Now, they will be thinking about saving the two-match series and denying New Zealand a chance to claim a cup from the first leg of their self-termed African safari.Victory for Zimbabwe and a share of the spoils seems improbable unless they are able to correct perennial problems that creep into their approach, almost all of which stem from a lack of game time. Their struggle to build partnerships and bat for long periods of time will be crippled further by the absence of Hamilton Masakadza, who will miss the Test with a back injury. Their attack’s battle to sustain pressure over extended periods also result in them falling behind early on. They have showed the ability to fight back, but that will probably not be enough against a more complete New Zealand unit.For New Zealand, a second victory and a clean sweep would be the perfect start in their search for more consistency after they lost ground to Australia. It will also give Kane Williamson a solid foundation on which to build his captaincy and sound a warning to South Africa that they could prove a challenge. Coach Mike Hesson could not find too many “work-ons” after the first Test but Trent Boult’s pace – which averaged in the late 120s – and the spinners’ returns will be areas to zone in on.The other area of interest will be the venue itself. Queens Sports Club will host back-to-back fixtures in a test of the ground staff’s ability to turn around quickly. The outfield, which was sluggish for the first Test, would have been trimmed and may be a little quicker while the pitch itself is expected to be slow, low and flat. With school holidays and a long weekend, crowd numbers could be higher, especially as Bulawayo does not know when it will see Test cricket again.

Form guide

Zimbabwe LLLLL (last five matches, most recent first)
New Zealand WLLWW

In the spotlight

After crashing to 36 for 4 and 17 for 4 in the first Test Zimbabwe’s top order will want to give their team a better start. Their ability to cope with a swinging new ball and a hostile short ball will be under particular scrutiny after Tim Southee and Neil Wagner used those tactics to run through them. In the absence of Masakadza, the responsibility will fall on Tino Mawoyo and Chamu Chibhabha.Apart from Trent Boult bowling below pace, the only aspect of New Zealand’s game that they may want to work on from the first Test is their spinners. While Mitchell Santner was economical, Ish Sodhi was expensive and with long spells likely to be needed on a flat track, he will need to tighten up and try to stifle Zimbabwe’s batsmen a little more.

Team news

The biggest blow to Zimbabwe is Hamilton Masakadza’s injury. Opener Tino Mawoyo has recovered from a hand injury to take his place at the top of the order alongside Chamu Chibhabha. Peter Moor is in line for a Test debut in place of Regis Chakabva who battled tonsillitis during the first Test. Although Chris Mpofu looks fit and firing, Donald Tiripano and Mike Chinouya are likely to keep their places with John Nyumbu coming in as a second specialist spinner.Zimbabwe: (probable) 1 Tino Mawoyo, 2 Chamu Chibhabha, 3 Sikandar Raza, 4 Craig Ervine, 5 Prince Masvaure, 6 Sean Williams, 7 Peter Moore (wk), 8 Graeme Cremer, (capt) 9 Donald Tiripano, 10 John Nyumbu, 11 Mike ChinouyaNew Zealand confirmed the same XI for the second Test which means no experiments to play Jeet Raval, Doug Bracewell or Matt Henry before they head to South Africa.New Zealand: 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Tom Latham, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Henry Nicholls, 5 Ross Taylor, 6 BJ Watling (wk), 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Tim Southee, 9 Ish Sodhi, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Neil Wagner

Pitch and conditions

While Neil Wagner extracted a surprising amount of bounce from the surface for the first match, this one is expected to offer nothing of the sort. The teams are likely to face a hard, flat strip, which will keep run-scoring slow and make wicket-taking difficult. The fielders will not be able to enjoy any respite from the weather either. Temperatures will remain in the mid-to-high 20s and the skies will be cloudless.

Stats and trivia

• Kane Williamson and Tim Southee will be playing their 50th Tests individually
• Five years ago this week, Zimbabwe returned to Test cricket after a six-year self-imposed exile and won their comeback Test against Bangladesh. Craig Ervine and Tino Mawoyo are the only players who took part in that match who may be involved in this one

Quotes

“We spent a day at Heath Steak’s farm. We managed to get out of the hotel which is good. It was awesome to get out and see a bit of Zimbabwe. We saw a pretty cool sunset and got some relaxing time before a pretty big five days ahead.”
.”The good thing is that we have had one game already. The guys have had a good look at how they got out. The guys have done some work. There’s a little bit more grit needed, a little bit more application and time to suss out conditions.”
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“We’re waiting for the final dates, but the ideal scenario is to be available and around for all that cricket”

Andrew McGlashan21-Feb-2021New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has admitted that potentially missing the Test matches against England in early June due to complete the IPL is not his preferred option but that it’s another case of the ideal scenario rarely playing out in the current climate.Related

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It has yet to be confirmed whether there will be a direct clash between the knockout stage of the IPL and the two-match series that will be played at Lord’s and Edgbaston between June 2 and 14. The England series will be just before the World Test Championship final, beginning on June 18, which New Zealand are guaranteed to be at.However, it is expected that the IPL will stretch into early June and NZC CEO David White has said that a “pragmatic” approach will be taken. NZC has long allowed their contracted players free rein to appear in the IPL and to date it has never meant any of them missing a Test match, although on the 2015 tour of England players arrived just a few days before the opening game.But even if the dates aren’t a direct clash it may not be as simple as quickly flying in from India depending on any Covid-19 quarantine protocols that are required.”It’s certainly not the preferred thing,” Williamson said of the potential clash. “I know when plans were put in place that wasn’t the idea then, but as we’ve seen, you can make plans in this day in age and very rarely do they go to plan.”For us it’s being able to adapt as quickly as possible, we still have to wait and see when dates are finalised to truly know what is happening before any decision is made but the ideal scenario is to be available and around for all that cricket. We’ll just have to wait and see.”Other first-choice Test players Trent Boult (Mumbai Indians) and Kyle Jamieson (Royal Challengers Bangalore) also have IPL deals as does quick bowler Lockie Ferguson (Kolkata Knight Riders) who could push for a place.Williamson and Boult have recently spoken about expecting to be on the road for up to 10 months this year. Once the home season is completed they will head straight to the IPL before moving onto England (Williamson also has a deal in the Hundred) then New Zealand have tours of Bangladesh and Pakistan lined up ahead of the T20 World Cup in India.Whenever a player returns to New Zealand they will be required to go through two weeks managed isolation under the government’s Covid-19 protocols.The two-Test series against England has been a late addition to the calendar and the matches are not part of the World Test Championship.Depending on which franchises make the IPL knockouts there could be a number of players missing the Tests with the ECB having also said they will allow their players to play the whole tournament unless they have not been in the XI.

New Zealand’s coach Mike Hesson has said his side’s 2-0 sweep of the Test series in Zimbabwe is important as they look to establish themselves as a top team

Firdose Moonda11-Aug-2016New Zealand have taken major steps on the ladder to being considered a top Test team by winning another series in foreign conditions. Their 2-0 sweep in Zimbabwe meant they have only lost two of their last seven away series, which includes a victory in West Indies and a draw in the UAE. This result, coach Mike Hesson explained, is important as they look to improve.”We know we will only be judged a decent team once we start to do well away from home,” Hesson said after their series win in Bulawayo. “We won in West Indies and Sri Lanka, and we are getting better. We were challenged here in Zimbabwe with both bat and ball and India are going to challenge us in a few months’ time.”Hesson called different unknown surfaces “a great leveler” and Kane Williamson used the same term when he discussed how touring teams need to take on both the opposition and their conditions.”Any time you tour away from home, the conditions are so diverse that the challenge is not just playing a different nation, it’s having to make big adjustments to your game and your approach as a team,” Williamson said. “Those are challenges that are unique to the international game and something every side finds difficult. It’s a leveler as well because everyone is most used to their home conditions. So when you go away you have to adapt as quickly as you can and it’s not an easy thing.”So how are New Zealand working on being able to adjust their game to match up to changing conditions? “We’ve got enough experience in the group that players can talk about it,” Hesson said. “When we train, we train with a purpose. We’ve got a group of players that share ideas and learn from each other.”Of New Zealand’s current squad, four had played in the Bulawayo Test they won by 34 runs five years ago. It’s no surprise then that Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Martin Guptill and BJ Watling were among the top five run-scorers in 2016. They knew the pitch did not allow for quick runs and that they would have to show patience, a word they used with nauseating frequency in the lead-up, to build a total.The approach paid off. New Zealand posted two scored in excess of 500 and only rushed things in the second innings of the second Test when they needed to set Zimbabwe a total.The man who accelerated was Taylor, whose eye was in better than anyone else’s. “He is in an excellent space. A very calm space and technically, he is playing nicely,” Hesson said. “He is training very well and is just making good decision after good decision.”The best decision, though, was made by Neil Wagner. He banged in short ball after short ball on a surface that was not supposed to give him bounce and he stunned Zimbabwe’s inexperienced line-up in the first Test. Later, he showed he could work an old ball and find reverse swing, something that will be crucial in the subcontinent.In doing so, Wagner also kept New Zealand’s only seam-bowling allrounder Doug Bracewell out of the side. “Doug is competing with Neil Wagner. With Neil’s ability to reverse the ball, that’s a role we wanted. We thought Neil was the right one to go with and he had a very good first Test, so he got a second,” Hesson explained.Bracewell, though, will likely come into contention in South Africa, where pitches would be a bit more lively. Test cricket has never been played at either Kingsmead or SuperSport Park in August before, so New Zealand will have to adapt again. Bracewell, Matt Henry and offspinner Mark Craig could come into contention as New Zealand attempt to win a first-ever Test series in South Africa to continue their form on the road.

Ben Duckett missed out on selection for England’s ODI squad to play India next month, thanks to the return of Eoin Morgan, Alex Hales and Joe Root

George Dobell05-Dec-20161:22

‘Duckett will get his chance again’

Ben Duckett was “desperately unlucky” to be squeezed out of the England ODI squad by the return of Eoin Morgan, Alex Hales and Joe Root, according to the coach, Trevor Bayliss.Duckett batted at No. 3 in Bangladesh and scored two half-centuries in three innings. But although Bayliss said he had “shot up the pecking order” the selectors eventually decided to stick with the squad that has served England well for the majority of the last 18 months. England have won nine of their 12 most recent ODIs.There was, according to Bayliss, never any doubt that Morgan would return as captain. Though the England management were disappointed that he and Hales elected not to go to Bangladesh due to their security fears, the ECB had specified months ago that those who skipped the tour would not be punished for doing so.

England ODI squad

Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Jonathan Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Liam Dawson, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes

Root, who was rested from the limited-overs section of the Bangladesh tour, is also back and set to reclaim his spot at No. 3, despite expecting the birth of his first child a few days before England return to India in January. The combination of those factors meant no room for Duckett.”There was a lot of discussion around Duckett,” Bayliss said. “It was the toughest decision and the one we spoke about the most. He did well in Bangladesh and if we had left someone else out they would have been desperately unlucky as well. We thought that Duckett has done himself no harm. He has shot up the pecking order and he is right there or thereabouts.”At this stage he is more suited to white-ball cricket and he showed he had what it takes in Bangladesh. There were a couple of innings there that were class. He has done well for himself but we thought we would show a bit of solidarity with the team we have had and done so well in last 12-18 months.”James Vince, who scored 53 runs in three ODIs in Bangladesh, has also been dropped, as was Steven Finn, who was a member of the squad but did not play in Bangladesh. The selectors resisted the temptation to rest players, reasoning that the gap between tours – the players will have more than two weeks at home between the end of the India Test series and their departure for the limited-overs games – was adequate.Bayliss did hint, though, that Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes “who have played a fair bit” may be rotated in order to allow “someone like Liam Dawson … another opportunity”.With Morgan, Hales and Root all but certain to return, Duckett was competing for inclusion in the squad with Jonny Bairstow and Sam Billings. In the end, though, the selectors decided Bairstow and Billings were better players of spin and wanted to offer more opportunities to those regular members of the squad.Ben Duckett scored two half-centuries in three ODIs against Bangladesh•Getty Images

“Billings and Bairstow at this stage are probably the two spare batters,” Bayliss said. “We think both are two of our better players of spin. Billings did well with the opportunity he had in Bangladesh and Bairstow has been batting well. Probably over the last couple of years, due to strength of the team we have had, he has not had the opportunities he would have liked. He is a good player, we all know that, and we want to keep him involved.”Hales has made four hundreds and ODI cricket suits him to a tee. He has that bit of extra time to get himself in and when he gets himself in we know the damage he can do from a batting point of view. He has been an integral part of the last couple of seasons in white-ball cricket. He has not given up hope of continuing in Test cricket either, but at the moment he is not there and extra focus is on one-day cricket. He has certainly been one of our better players in white ball cricket.”I have not had the chance to speak to Duckett yet but my message to him will be ‘Mate, well done, you have had a fantastic start and see this as the beginnings of a career. Keep going out and scoring runs because you are right there or thereabouts.’ This decision was more to do with the experience of the guys we have in the team who have been together for the last 18 months and done well.”The Champions Trophy is one of the big tournaments in the world and we are playing at home. We want to be in as good a form as we possibly can, so we don’t want to be chopping and changing the team leading into that tournament.”

England T20 squad

Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Liam Dawson, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey

Bayliss confirmed that Morgan had been involved in the selection of the squad and dismissed the suggestion that his authority as captain had been diminished by his decision to miss the Bangladesh trip.”Morgan not returning as captain was not even discussed,” Bayliss said. “It was said earlier that there would not be any recriminations against them and they are straight back in. We have done pretty well over last 18 months and the team we have got has been reasonably stable and successful and there is no reason to change.”I have not sensed that his authority has been eroded at all. There has been no comment about it. He gets on well with all of the guys in the team. He is very highly respected among everyone for the job he has done over the last two years. He captains the team very well. He is a very positive captain and that means a lot to the players in the team.”Other notable inclusions were Dawson being named in both squads – he was last week called up to join the Test party – and Tymal Mills in the T20 squad. And, while Bayliss acknowledged that Moeen and Adil Rashid “are the two best spinners” England have, he did name check Hampshire’s 19-year-old legspinner, Mason Crane, as a bowler with “reasonable control” and a player who had impressed him.