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Sunil Joshi, the Karnataka left-arm spinner, has announced his retirement from international and first-class cricket

Siddarth Ravindran21-Jun-2012Sunil Joshi, the Karnataka left-arm spinner, has formally announced his retirement from international and first-class cricket. Joshi, 42, hasn’t played competitive cricket in more than a year, and was the coach of Hyderabad last season.His international career lasted between 1996 and 2001, spanning 15 Tests and 69 ODIs. His most famous international performance was his 10-6-6-5 spell against South Africa in 1999. In Tests, he was Man of the Match in Bangladesh’s inaugural match, after an all-round effort, taking eight wickets and also scoring a battling 92 in the first innings.On the domestic circuit, he was a stalwart for Karnataka, finishing as the third highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy, behind Rajinder Goel and S Venkataraghavan. He won the Ranji Trophy three times – 1995-96, 1997-98 and 1998-99. He was also a handy batsman, finishing with 5126 first-class runs at an average of 26.71. With the Karnataka State Cricket Association recently launching its plan to revive Karnataka’s fortunes, it will be players like Joshi that it would be looking to unearth.At a function organised by the KSCA to mark the occasion, Joshi was warmly praised by some of the state’s greatest players, several of whom were his team-mates at both the domestic and international level. Anil Kumble hailed his impact both on the field and off it. “Congratulations on a terrific career, for being a fantastic servant of Karnataka cricket. His determination and dedication was always evident,” Kumble said. “He is an exceptional allrounder whose services will always be missed. Not just stats, he also contributed by supporting and encouraging younger players.”

Joshi’s favourite domestic game

He rated the come-from-behind victory over Madhya Pradesh in the 1998-99 Ranji final as the most cherished moment in his domestic career. “We had conceded the first-innings lead and we had to push for an outright win. We couldn’t sleep all night after the fourth day, as it was raining (and reducing our chances of victory),” he said. “The next morning it had stopped raining, but MP were batting out time.” At tea MP were 130 for 4, and seemingly safe. “After tea, I managed to get Abbas Ali out (who batted four hours for 47) and Vijay Bharadwaj took over, cleaning up the MP tail to win the match with two overs to spare.” The last six wickets went down for 18 runs.

Rahul Dravid called him ‘an ornament to the game’ and highlighted the importance of experienced players like Joshi in the domestic game. “Even 10 years after his last game for India, he was still playing for Karnataka,” Dravid said. “It is people like Joshi who make domestic cricket the breeding ground for talent. His experience and class helps younger players and also rivals.”Dravid also highlighted Joshi’s commitment. “He led by example. I remember a Ranji semi-final against Hyderabad, he bowled the first over of the day and I didn’t take him off till the end of the day. He bowled 45 overs for me.”The tributes all referred to Joshi’s rise from the small town of Gadag in northern Karnataka, and his struggles to make the Ranji team. An emotional Joshi himself recalled the early days. “As a 12-year-old I used to take the Gol Gumbaz express everyday at 3.30am from Gadag to Hubli (a larger town where he practised),” he said about a journey he undertook for several years.When he finally broke into the Ranji team, after several seasons of junior state cricket, his first match didn’t go to plan. “My first cap was in 1992, there was a lot of pressure on me. I made 83 not out on the first day, and bowled a single over before stumps,” he said. “The next day the match was called off due to the Ayodhya riots.” He went on to become the most capped Karnataka player.Roger Binny, the former India allrounder, said Joshi paved the way for other small-town cricketers in the state. “I was the coach when Joshi came into the state team,” Binny said. “He has been an inspiration to cricketers from mofussil areas. In the recent past, Vinay Kumar has also done the same thing.”Javagal Srinath was the last of the state’s legends to pay tribute, and had the audience in splits with his anecdotes about Joshi’s cooking, their Under-22 days and Joshi’s retort after Srinath, not usually a close-in fielder, dropped a sitter at slip during Bangladesh’s first Test (telling him angrily that fast bowlers should always field in the deep).Joshi was presented a memento by the KSCA, and was surprised by a coffee table book showcasing his career that was put together by his family. The evening of bonhomie and respect was the perfect way to acknowledge the end of one of the great careers in domestic cricket.

The secretary of the Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA), Ijaz Farooqui, has accused the PCB of deliberately neglecting players from Karachi when selecting the national team

ESPNcricinfo staff15-May-2011The secretary of the Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA), Ijaz Farooqui, has accused the PCB of deliberately neglecting players from Karachi when selecting the national team. “They have used different ways to overlook them and discard those already in the national team,” he told reporters.The KCCA had complained about the non-selection of Karachi players like wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed, Danish Kaneria, Khurram Manzoor, Faisal Iqbal and Mohammad Sami – each of whom has represented Pakistan – among others. “Sarfraz did so well and we all were thinking that he will be automatically selected for the longer format but shockingly Mohammad Salman was picked up [for the West Indies tour],” Farooqui said.The PCB issued a show-cause notice to Farooqui over his complaints but he was undeterred. “We will continue to raise our voices in order to provide justice to our players. We wrote letters to the PCB about our reservations over the selection but the board did not pay any attention on the issue, which has forced us to come out on the roads and protest.”As far as Pakistan cricket’s problems in the recent past are concerned, Farooqui held what he called the “dictatorship” of Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, responsible for it. “Our cricket has suffered because of one man’s dictatorship. Once the dictatorship starts objectivity ends.”

England coach Andy Flower has given Andrew Strauss a ringing endorsement over his captaincy of the one-day side

Andrew McGlashan07-Jun-2010England coach Andy Flower has given Andrew Strauss a ringing endorsement over his captaincy of the one-day side ahead of the series against Australia later this month following speculation that the leadership position may be under debate.Comments by Geoff Miller, the national selector, on Sunday didn’t appear to give Strauss unequivocal support when he said: “If we think it is right to go elsewhere we will do that.” Following the victory against Bangladesh at Old Trafford, Strauss was quizzed about his position but insisted he wasn’t aware of Miller’s comments and was preparing to lead the one-day team against Scotland on June 19 followed by five matches against Australia and a series against Bangladesh.Flower was surprised that Strauss had been asked to defend his position and was in no doubt that he would be the captain. “He did not mention any of that to me last night,” Flower said. “Andrew Strauss will be captaining in the one-dayers.”England’s triumphant Twenty20 campaign in the Caribbean has led to calls for the same side to be fielded in the 50-over format, but Flower is comfortable with Strauss’s role in one-day cricket and believes he had an impact on the success in the shortest format.”He is a fine leader and a fine batsman,” he said. “I think in the last 12 months he has done some really good things for us in one-day cricket. He bats aggressively up front. His specialist area is facing the quick bowling.”He has been the architect of the attacking type of cricket England’s one-day side has been playing. In a way, he was the catalyst for the attacking cricket we have been able to play in Twenty20 as well. Over the past 12 months, he has played some very good limited-overs cricket.”England will name their one-day squad on Thursday, but one man who certainly won’t be there is Steven Finn despite his Man-of-the-Series performance against Bangladesh after taking 15 wickets in two matches. The selectors have decided he requires a conditioning programme like that undertaken by Stuart Broad and won’t be considered for any ODI action ahead of the Pakistan Test series at the end of July.Flower was also keen to temper expectations for 21-year-old Finn with comparisons already being made with Glenn McGrath and talk of a vital role he can play in the Ashes series later this year.”I don’t like to make those comparisons,” he said. “Steven Finn is unique in various ways. He is very much his own man. Comparing him to other fast bowlers, to me, is not useful. But he has a lovely action.””He has been very impressive. He’s played four Test matches now, and it’s fair to say he’s learning all the time,” Flower added. “He has very, very good control for a 21-year-old fast bowler. I think that comes from his action, and also a very sound and grounded personality. It is a great start for him, but he also realises that he has great scope for learning and progress.”The position likely to create most debate for the one-dayers is that of wicketkeeper following Craig Kieswetter’s impressive performances in West Indies which followed on from his maiden hundred against Bangladesh in Chittagong. Matt Prior hit 93 at Old Trafford, but his ODI average is a mediocre 25.38 having been shunted around the order during his career and it’s unlikely there will be room for both in the squad.”Michael Slater was an attacking and quick-scoring Test player but never really fitted the bill in limited-overs cricket,” Flower said. “Matt is an attacking, often counter-attacking, batsman in Test cricket. He has had a lot of opportunities up the order in one-day cricket and has not quite grasped them, and has consequently been playing a role in the middle order.”With Prior missing out on a hundred in Manchester it means his last three-figure score for England was in Trinidad last March. Since then he has admitted to putting in a huge amount of work on his keeping, but Flower said it was important he maintained his standards in both roles.”I don’t think it needs to be a balancing act between wicketkeeping focus or batting focus,” he said. “Everybody has the time and energy to do both. There is no scope for saying you are working hard on one and therefore the other suffers, at all.”Matt, in his career with England so far, has done some really good things – with the bat and gloves. There was evidence of that again in this last Test match. He had a really good and important partnership with Ian Bell.”

For SA, this series will precede their five white-ball games against Ireland, also in the UAE

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Jul-2024South Africa and Afghanistan are set to play their first-ever bilateral series, with three ODIs scheduled in Sharjah between September 18 and 22. The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) will host the series, Cricket South Africa (CSA) said in a statement.This series was not part of the Future Tours Programme (FTP) originally and CSA chairman Lawson Naidoo said it was a “significant milestone” in the partnership between the two boards. The series will end five days before South Africa’s scheduled matches – two T20Is and three ODIs – against Ireland in Abu Dhabi start on September 27.

South Africa’s tour of the UAE

ODI series v Afghanistan: September 18, 20 and 22.
T20I series vs Ireland: September 27 and 29.
ODI series vs Ireland: October 2, 4, and 7.

“We are excited to embark on this historic ODI series with Afghanistan, who have become a very competitive all-round team as evidenced by their recent performances in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 and most recently at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024,” Naidoo said. “This is a significant milestone in our cricketing relations, and we look forward to a competitive and entertaining series.”These fixtures were not initially part of our FTP. Still, based on our productive negotiations with our counterparts at Cricket South Africa, we concluded that we will host the Proteas for an ODI series in September,” ACB Chairman Mirwais Ashraf said. “They are an excellent team, and we are eagerly looking forward to hosting them and playing them regularly in the future.”Before heading to the UAE, though, South Africa have two Tests and three T20Is lined up in the Caribbean against West Indies, starts August 7. For Afghanistan, the South Africa games will provide another chance to impress against a Test-playing nation and will be played less than a week after their maiden Test against New Zealand in Greater Noida, India, which will be contested from September 9 to 13.

Michael Neser and Sean Abbott could provide back-up from county cricket

AAP19-Apr-2023Tearaway quick Lance Morris has been put on ice in a bid to rebuild his body for the home summer, after a back injury ruled him out of Ashes calculations.Australia opted to name only the four fast bowlers in their 17-man squad on Wednesday for the opening half of their tour of England, with Scott Boland picked alongside the usual pace trio.Morris had been part of Australia’s squad for the majority of the home summer, before the West Australian earned his spot in a touring party for this year’s series in India.Related

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But a flare up of a back injury has restricted him from bowling for up to six weeks, ending any hope of being in the initial touring squad and rendering him unlikely to be called up beyond that. He had also been due to play for Northamptonshire next month.”He’s having a bit of a de-load period, which I think is about four-to-six weeks, and then he will start to start to build after that,” chief selector George Bailey said. “Conservatively, we’ll probably look to rebuild Lance and hopefully have a really big crack at the summer.”He’ll get another scan in four-to-six weeks and we’ll get a better indication of of how that back’s going.”Bailey indicated on Wednesday that it was unlikely Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood would be able to play all six Tests, with the World Test Championship final and five-match Ashes series over in the space of two months.Hazlewood is returning from two lengthy injury lay-offs in the IPL, with the seamer in constant conversation with Australian medical staff on building up his workload outside of games.There are three short turnarounds throughout the England tour, with Bailey noting it was hard to determine if bowlers would be managed until it was clear how quick matches were completed.Australia have traditionally taken more than one back-up quick on long tours, but Michael Neser and Sean Abbott are among a plethora of Australians playing in the County Championship and able to be called up.”If we do need to call upon another quick we can we can be really specific around who we need and why,” Bailey said. “And then not necessarily have someone in the squad who ends up being superfluous.”Bailey also said Australia’s decision to include Mitchell Marsh as a back-up to Cameron Green shows officials realise an allrounder is now crucial to their team balance.

On a surface aiding spin, the South African spinners were on point in the first game – can India’s pair match them this time around?

Saurabh Somani20-Jan-20221:50

Can Aiden Markram find some form? Will Venkatesh Iyer bowl?

Big picture

About three weeks ago, India were riding the crest of a wave. They had breached a South African fortress in Centurion, were 1-0 up in the Test series, and had every prospect of turning that into a series-winning lead. However, that belonged in 2021. In 2022, India haven’t won any game in South Africa. Defeats in the last two Tests have been followed up by a loss in the opening ODI, and now India find themselves within one game of returning home with defeats in both the series, a prospect that would have seemed somewhat far-fetched at any point before the tour began or even after the first Test.The second ODI follows close on the heels of the first one, and at the same venue too – Boland Park in Paarl. The heat and the dryness of the pitch meant spinners found purchase, and the South African duo of Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi (combined figures of 20-1-94-3) comfortably out-performed India’s pair of R Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal (20-0-106-1). And if you add Aiden Markram’s part-time spin to the mix, South Africa’s spin figures become an even more impressive 26-1-124-4.Apart from expecting more from their spinners, India will also have to deal with the familiar issue of the middle order lacking runs. It has been the flip side to having a top three of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli – who have piled on runs relentlessly – that the middle order remains slightly uncooked, and it is not a problem with easy solutions.Related

• van der Dussen, Bavuma feed off each other in fine partnership

• Dhawan's knock underlines his value in India's ODI side

For South Africa, the theme that ran through their success in the Test series held good in the first ODI too: they are a team without too many superstars but one that still gets the job done. Rassie van der Dussen has played 30 ODIs so far, and averages a whopping 73.62 in them. In the first ODI here, he showed what he could do with inventive and attacking batting. His innings swung the game decisively South Africa’s way, with the run rate floundering until he took charge.While it is unrealistic to expect him to sustain this level of run-scoring in ODIs, it is not as if these numbers are completely out of the blue for van der Dussen. In a List A career spanning 119 matches, his average is just shy of 50.

Form guide

South Africa WLWLW (last five completed matches; most recent first)

India LLWWW
Runs haven’t been coming for Aiden Markram, and South Africa have other options in the squad•AFP/Getty Images

In the spotlight

KL Rahul will face the heat as captain and opening batter. On the eve of the first ODI, he had lauded Venkatesh Iyer’s all-round utility to the ODI side, but then opted not to call him up for a single over with the ball even when the others were being dealt with easily by Temba Bavuma and van der Dussen. It left the question as to why Iyer was preferred to Suryakumar Yadav or Ishan Kishan, who arguably offer more as batters alone. And while batting, Rahul opted for some caution even though South Africa opened the bowling with Markram’s part-time offspin.A favourable match-up against a non-regular bowler with the field up during the powerplay and a steep target to chase should have unlocked Rahul’s free-stroking persona. Instead, he brought out the IPL image of recent vintage: the captain intent on caution. Tactically too, it wasn’t the best move as it allowed South Africa to get six overs out of the fifth bowler’s quota first up, and gave them much greater freedom to use their main bowlers at key moments. How Rahul responds to these as captain and batter will be interesting to see.While Aiden Markram’s bowling offered an unexpected bonus, and his fielding at point remains top notch, his main suit has been in trouble lately. He isn’t short of class but the runs haven’t been coming for Markram, and that is something that could trouble South Africa on another day. Hence, they could well consider a swap with a bowler. In the likes of George Linde and Dwaine Pretorius, they have bowlers who can bat.If they want to go for a pure bowler, there is Sisanda Magala. In effect, if Markram is not contributing via runs, there is an argument to be made that his part-time bowling can be replaced by someone with greater pedigree.

Team news

South Africa are unlikely to make changes to a winning combination from the first ODI. They followed the same philosophy in the Test matches, where Maharaj played the second and third Tests despite having little to do.South Africa (likely): 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Janneman Malan, 3 Temba Bavuma (capt), 4 Aiden Markram, 5 Rassie van der Dussen, 6 David Miller, 7 Andile Phehlulwayo, 8 Marco Jansen, 9 Keshav Maharaj, 10 Lungi Ngidi, 11 Tabraiz ShamsiRahul had said before the series began that while India would look to be flexible tactically, they would ensure those selected got a good run. On that basis, it is not likely that they will make any changes to the side from the first ODI either.India (likely): 1 KL Rahul (capt), 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Venkatesh Iyer, 7 R Ashwin, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal

Pitch and conditions

It is set to be another hot day in Paarl. The surface is slow and aiding spin already, and the heat will dry it out further. The slowness of the pitch is balanced by the shorter boundaries. And so, like in the first ODI, the team winning the toss will look to bat in all probability.

Stats and trivia

• Among the top ten pace bowlers in terms of ODI wickets since Jasprit Bumrah’s debut in January 2016, only he has an economy rate below five. Bumrah has the second-most wickets in this period, but his average and economy rate are both better than Trent Boult, who has the most.
• Keshav Maharaj has played six of his 16 ODIs at home – all in the last two years – and in four out of those six, he has paired with Tabraiz Shamsi. This is a pointer to the South African pitches not always being spin-unfriendly, as well as to South Africa having two quality spinners to call on.

Quotes

“Our thought process is that we are building a team for the 2023 World Cup. So there are going to be a few hiccups here and there. But we all have good clarity that we have got this bunch of players and how we have to refine them. It doesn’t matter if we lose an odd game while trying to do that because we are looking at the bigger picture.”
“Definitely a lot more in favour of the Indian players, more like a subcontinent pitch rather than a South African pitch. So that’s what makes the victory even sweeter, basically in foreign conditions, we outplayed them.”

Launching a domestic T20 professional league by 2022 and submitting joint bids with Cricket West Indies to host a major ICC tournament part of objectives

Peter Della Penna15-Oct-2020USA Cricket has released a foundational plan document presenting an outline for its target of becoming an ICC Full Member by 2030. As part of the document, USA Cricket has reaffirmed its intention to launch a domestic T20 professional league by 2022 – one which has been pushed back by the Covid-19 pandemic – and to submit joint bids with Cricket West Indies to host a major ICC tournament such as a T20 World Cup within the 2023-31 ICC commercial rights cycle.In order to achieve some of these objectives, USA Cricket has stated it intends to have at least two more ICC ODI accredited venues by 2021. Currently, the only such venue in the USA is Broward County Stadium located in Lauderhill, Florida, which has hosted 10 T20Is since 2010 and hosted USA’s first ODI on home soil in September 2019.USA Cricket has stated it will put specific emphasis on T20 cricket domestically over the next decade, spearheaded by the planned T20 league it has branded Major League Cricket. Compared to the pathway taken by Ireland and Afghanistan to achieve Full Membership, which utilized success in the four-day Intercontinental Cup competition and establishing a domestic first-class structure, USA’s plan would need the ICC to go ahead with proposals to decouple Test status with Full Member status.Growing girl’s and women’s participation figures across the country is also a focus area laid out in the document. At present, there are roughly between 150 and 200 female players spread across the entire country compared to men’s players which are between 10,000 and 20,000 hardball cricket players if not more according to various registration data figures.However, the document lacks specific measurable growth or performance targets within the plan’s framework. A previous document issued in 2015 by the ICC’s Project USA transition team stated specific goals for USA over the next five years which included qualifying for the 2019 Men’s Cricket World Cup, the 2020 Men’s and Women’s T20 World Cup and the 2020 U-19 World Cup. USA fell short of achieving all four targets, though they did secure ODI status in April 2019.Though the new foundational plan document targets qualification for the 2022 U-19 World Cup, there is no similar performance goal laid out for the men’s or women’s national teams. Instead, the document states that “we will develop a clear and balanced long-term international playing calendar for our national teams that includes more content, played more frequently against competitive opposition.”According to the ICC’s current criteria requirements for obtaining Full Membership, several of the measurable objectives that must be met include: qualifying for at least three 50-over or T20 World Cups in an eight-year span, registering at least one win over a Full Member in a World Cup or World Cup Qualifying event plus four wins over Full Members in bilateral matches, qualifying for at least one Women’s World Cup and two U-19 World Cups. The only one of these that USA has achieved at any point in history is qualifying for the U-19 World Cup, which was last done in 2010.USA Cricket most recently announced plans to resume a national domestic championship, dependent on passing individual state health protocol during Covid-19, for the first time since 2015. This would be the first step of the domestic competition infrastructure framework requirements to satisfy Full Membership criteria.USA is currently ranked second in the ICC Cricket World Cup League Two competition that has been stalled by the pandemic. USA has won six of its 12 ODIs in the tournament, putting them second behind table leaders Oman and three points ahead of Scotland. They failed to advance past regional qualifying in 2019 for the next edition of the Men’s T20 World Cup. The women’s team finished winless in group play at the women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier held in Scotland in August 2019 and the U-19 team finished as runner-up to Canada in the most recent U-19 World Cup regional qualifier in July 2019.

The left-arm seamer, who underwent back surgery last year, will initially be available for T20 selection

George Dobell03-Jul-2019Reece Topley is set to return to professional cricket having signed a contract with Sussex.Topley, the former England left-arm swing bowler, underwent back surgery in July 2018, having sustained a fifth stress fracture in the back.He was released by Hampshire at the end of the 2018 season – he had been seeking his release for some time – and declined contract offers from several smaller counties at the start of this season so he could complete his rehabilitation at his own pace.Initially Topley will be available for selection for the T20 side though the hope is he will be able to play Championship cricket before the end of the season. While the contract at Sussex currently only runs until the end of September, both parties hope it can be extended.Topley has been training with Sussex on and off for a couple of months. He has represented their second XI in T20 cricket and played for Reigate Priory in the Premier Division of the Surrey Championship.Having been out of cricket for so long, Topley is clearly not in the frame for an imminent return to the England set-up. He is just 25, though, and it was noticeable that he was quickly recalled to the Lions set-up midway through the 2018 season despite having played little cricket previously. England are still looking for a left-arm seamer; if he can avoid further injury, Topley could yet be that man.”I’ve had to take a step back with my game for a while, so to be back in a place where I can contribute for Sussex is really exciting,” Topley said. “I’m looking forward not only to be playing again, but to being back in the dressing room and working with the rest of the squad and the coaches here at the club.”It’s been a long time out rehabbing, so if I can make it through to the end of the season fit and having contributed to the team and then work hard during the off-season so I am at my best for the start of next summer, I’ll be thrilled.”I’m so grateful to Sussex for the use of all the facilities and personnel over the last few month. Everyone here has given me 100% effort and the ‘can do’ attitude around the place has been incredible and has surpassed any expectations I had.””We’ve had our fair share of guys unavailable for various reasons this season, so to have another bowling option for the rest of the season is great news,” Sussex head coach Jason Gillespie said.Topley has played ten ODIs and six T20Is for England. In 34 first-class matches he has taken 127 wickets, 84 wickets in 62 T20s and 93 wickets in 55 list A games.

Smith is understood to have been preferred from a shortlist that also included Andy Flower, Derek Pringle, Mike Selvey and one of the current selectors, Mick Newell

George Dobell18-Apr-2018Ed Smith has emerged as the favourite to be appointed as England’s new head selector.While the ECB have not confirmed the appointment, Smith is understood to have been preferred from a shortlist that also included Andy Flower, Derek Pringle, Mike Selvey and one of the current selectors, Mick Newell. Angus Fraser, another of the current incumbents, is understood not to have reapplied for a selection role.Smith replaces James Whitaker in the lead selection role. He will be involved in picking another member of the selection panel who will complete a three-man line-up alongside England coach, Trevor Bayliss. The trio are expected to be advised by a dozen or so scouts whose names will be announced imminently.An elegant batsman, Smith was good enough to play three Tests for England in the summer of 2003 after a prolific run of form in county cricket. He scored 64 in his first innings but managed only 23 more runs in his next four innings and was dropped. His playing career ended somewhat when he suffered a badly broken ankle in 2008. He was 31.While much of his subsequent career has been in the media – Smith has, among other things, commentated for the , as well as written books and articles for a variety of outlets – he also had a spell as a consultant to Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2016, when they reached the final of the IPL.A former captain of both Kent and Middlesex, Smith was at the latter with Andrew Strauss, the director of England cricket. Smith’s leadership style was not always popular, however, and he left Kent not long after something approaching an on-field mutiny from some senior players.

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.