All posts by csb10.top

The BCCI’s cricket advisory committee, appointed to pick the India coach, carried out interviews with six to seven candidates on Tuesday in Kolkata. Former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who is one of the three members on the committee along with Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, said that the panel was likely to pick its final choice by the end of the day and forward it to BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke by Wednesday.While Ganguly had told reporters early in the day that ten candidates were to be interviewed, he later said that the panel had met with six to seven candidates. He added that he could not divulge any other details and would want the BCCI to announce all further information.Anil Kumble and Ravi Shastri were the most high-profile candidates who made their presentations on Tuesday. While Kumble appeared in person for the interview, Shastri spoke with the panel through Skype as he was overseas.The other candidates who were interviewed were Tom Moody, Stuart Law, Lalchand Rajput, Pravin Amre and Andy Moles. Amre told ESPNcricinfo that he had laid out his vision for the Indian side and told the panel that one of his main aims as head coach would be to help the team perform well consistently overseas.”It was also a good learning experience for me as the panel wanted to know exactly how I would achieve the objective of [helping] India become the No. 1 team in all forms,” Amre said. “We went in detail on each criterion listed in the job application.”Sandeep Patil, the chairman of selectors, once again confirmed on Tuesday that he had “not been invited for an interview.”The hunt for a new coach began after Shastri’s contract as team director expired at the end of the World T20 in April. The application process started on June 1, with an advertisement on the BCCI website, and the board set a deadline of June 10. It received 57 applications, and the list of candidates was trimmed to 21 last week.Among the important qualifications listed in the advertisement included coaching experience at the international or first-class level. The BCCI had also stated that candidates who were qualified with a certification/assessment programme conducted by any of the Full Member nations and currently hold such certification, would be preferred.

Tom Poynton, the Derbyshire wicketkeeper, has announced his retirement from the game aged 26. Poynton was involved in a car crash in 2014 – in which his father was killed – and the ankle injury he sustained has continued to cause problems, prompting his decision to quit.Until last month, Poynton had been involved in every game for Derbyshire this season. However, the ankle flared up again and is expected to require further surgery, with Poynton deciding it will no longer hold up to the rigours of playing professionally.”It’s been a really difficult decision to retire from the game I love, but the medical diagnosis and advice means I know that it’s the right decision,” Poynton said. “I’m grateful to everyone in the Derbyshire cricket family and further afield who have helped me during my career, both on and off the field.”I’ve loved playing for Derbyshire, a club I’ve been associated with for over 10 years, and I’m sad to leave. I now need to focus on the next stage of my life after cricket. There’s a few opportunities that I’m going to pursue and I’m excited about what lies ahead.”Poynton came through Derbyshire’s academy, representing England Under-19s and going on to play more than 100 matches for the county. He made his Derbyshire debut aged 17 and in 2012 was involved in the third-highest ninth-wicket partnership in first-class history, putting on 261 with Wayne Madsen and scoring his maiden hundred.In all, Poynton scored 1155 runs in first-class cricket, to go with 107 catches and 10 stumpings. While recovering from his injuries during the 2014 season, he worked in the club’s marketing department.Derbyshire’s chief executive, Simon Storey, said: “Tom is a model professional and leaves the club with a gap to fill on and off the field. He is a natural leader and fine cricketer who has overcome great personal tragedy in the process of representing his home county.”He has shown huge commitment and courage to get back playing first-class cricket at Derbyshire and on behalf of the whole club – members, sponsors, supporters and staff – we all wish Tom every success in the future.”

Toby Roland-Jones, the Middlesex seamer, has been handed his first England call-up and Gary Ballance has been recalled for the first Test against Pakistan at Lord’s, which starts from July 14. Injuries have kept Ben Stokes and James Anderson on the sidelines while Jos Buttler has not earned a recall.Roland-Jones, 28, a tall seam bowler, averages 25.17 in first-class cricket and has been on England’s radar for a few seasons. Yesterday he played a key role in a notable Middlesex victory over Yorkshire at Scarborough as he clubbed a quickfire unbeaten 79 and took three wickets in the second innings to finish with six in the match. Overall, he has 30 wickets at 29.06 in the County Championship this season; in 2015 he took 48 wickets at 27.04.Anderson has not recovered sufficiently from his shoulder injury while the selectors want Stokes to play more cricket after his return to action from knee surgery – he has yet to resume bowling for Durham although Trevor Bayliss hinted he may have been included as a batsman.

England squad

Alastair Cook (capt), Alex Hales, Joe Root, Gary Ballance, James Vince, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, Jake Ball, Steven Finn, Toby Roland-Jones

“Like always, selection is very opinionated, and they could have picked him but the lack of cricket in the last few weeks has meant they’ve gone that way,” Alastair Cook, the England captain, said. “He’s just back from a long time out of the game.”It has been confirmed that Joe Root will move up to No. 3 – something Bayliss has pushed for – to fill the spot vacated by Nick Compton which means Ballance, who was dropped during last year’s Ashes series, will return in the middle order. Ballance struck his first century of the season against Middlesex this week – he is averaging 33.64 in the Championship – and has fought off competition from the heavily tipped Scott Borthwick who averages 58.50 this season with three centuries.”He hasn’t changed a huge amount in terms of technique, just keep evolving it to keep it in as good a position as you can. What he does have is that hard edge,” Cook said.On Root’s promotion, Cook added: “It’s a conversation we’ve had over the last week, it’s the right thing to do, he’s our best player, and it’s quite an Australian thing to do. There’s no reason why he won’t score same amount of runs as at No. 4.”After the one-day series against Sri Lanka, Bayliss spoke highly of Buttler’s credentials and suggested he could return to the Test side as a batsman despite not having played first-class cricket since he was dropped in the UAE last year, but in the end that lack of red-ball cricket has been a deciding factor. It also means that Bairstow will retain the wicketkeeping gloves.”Those guys and Jason Roy, Tom Westley, Scott Borthwick were all discussed as very good options,” Cook said. “The argument with Jos is he hasn’t played red-ball cricket for a long time, you do need to know your method.”Jake Ball, the Nottinghamshire seamer, who was in each squad for the Sri Lanka series retains his place despite an elbow niggle and will likely compete for a spot in the final XI with Roland-Jones.”It’s disappointing that Jimmy hasn’t made it but Jake’s in the squad, he’s started the season in fantastic form,” Stuart Broad said. “He’s had a slight elbow niggle but he’s learnt a lot about his bowling in last 18 months and he’s ready to make that step up”He’s got physical attributes, he moves the ball both ways, comes round the wicket to the left-handers and hits the ball harder. You can’t make judgements about temperament, but he’s taken wickets on TV which is a good sign.”

England’s players will be given time to consider their personal position on touring Bangladesh but Andrew Strauss, the director of England cricket, hopes that there will be an decision to undertake the trip.Strauss had encouraged the players “not to leave anything unsaid” during the meeting in London on Thursday, where it was confirmed that the trip would take place as planned. He believes that it is “100% safe” to tour, following the advice of the ECB’s head of security Reg Dickason, and is eager for a collective spirit among the squad, even though he has opened his door for any player to have one-on-one meetings about any concerns.The ECB, who will continue to monitor the situation in Bangladesh ahead of their departure on September 30, were given detailed information on the levels of security that will be provided in Dhaka, Chittagong and Fatullah, while the successful hosting of the Under-19 World Cup – for which England sent a team – also had a significant bearing on the decision.”At no stage did we ask players whether they would make themselves available,” Strauss said. “We are not at that stage yet. I’m certainly hopeful that we can convince the players that it is safe to tour. I’m 100% convinced that is the case. I have the utmost confidence in Reg Dickason and his experience.”My view is that the job of the ECB and Reg is to assure the players it is safe to go and, once they have that, I’m very hopeful that we’ll have all the squad coming together and saying ‘let’s go’ as a group.”We can’t force anyone to go on any tour and nor would we want to. Our job is to assure them it is safe and if that’s the case there is no other reason to pull out of the tour. We will answer any questions they have and hopefully put any fears they have to bed.”Strauss, along with Test captain Alastair Cook who also attended the meeting, were part of the England squad that returned to India for two Tests under the captaincy of Kevin Pietersen after the Mumbai attacks in 2008. Of current first-choice Test players, Stuart Broad and James Anderson – the latter who joined the team meeting via conference call – were also on that trip.Although it may not be something on the minds of players as they try to decide whether to tour, England’s return to India generated a lot of goodwill and they will be warmly received in Bangladesh after the country feared they could see a widespread withdrawal of touring sides following Australia’s pull-out last year. Earlier this week, Bangladesh’s one-day captain Mashrafe Mortaza said: “Our friendship will get deeper if we play in this series. It is not just about the game.””I’ve been there before, I know this is an emotive topic, and for a lot of people they are going through it for the first time,” Strauss said. “It’s not easy and we appreciate what they are going through and that’s why it’s really important we give them the space and time to digest it all and ask any questions.”There were a number of references to 2008 and what we went through. I don’t think it’s particularly relevant to say it will happen the same way, but those players who went through it before have a pretty good idea of how things will work.”Using his experience of India, Strauss hoped that once the initial uncertainty had been overcome and the tour was underway that, even with the considerable security presence that will be around the team 24/7, from ground to hotel and back again, that the cricket will allow players to feel more at ease.”Clearly when we went back to India there was a huge security presence around us but after the first few days you get back into cricket mode and are thinking about winning games. I can’t say for sure that will be the case in Bangladesh, but my experience is that it will be.”Strauss also confirmed that himself, Tom Harrison, the ECB chief executive, and chairman Colin Graves will be going out to Bangladesh for various parts of the tour. The squads will be named shortly after the T20 against Pakistan next month.

The last couple of weeks, according to Ben Duckett, have seen “lots of dinners and celebrating”, to the extent that he has not had a moment to pause for thought about his imminent England debut.That debut seemed closer the moment that England touched down in Bangladesh and, a couple of hours later, the team coach pulled into a Dhaka hotel under the sort of heavy security that will be a daily feature of the tour in response to a terrorist atrocity in the capital three months ago.On Friday, Duckett seems set to replace Alex Hales in the first ODI against Bangladesh. Later in the month, he will battle another newcomer, Haseeb Hameed, for the right to open with Alastair Cook in the two Test matches.The recent celebrations have been for a raft of end of season awards – from his club Northamptonshire, the Cricket Writers’ Club and the PCA, where he did an unprecedented double – but really they have been coming all summer.It was a remarkable season which began with an unbeaten 282 against Sussex (only rain prevented him reaching 300 and he is quick to quip that “I blame the groundsman a bit, but I’ll take the red ink”) and which never let up: two more double-tons would follow, including 220 not out against Sri Lanka A for England Lions. There were another two Championship tons, as well as 163 against Pakistan A, a One-Day Cup century, and a starring role on Northants’ Finals Day fairytale in the NatWest Blast. In all, there were 2,706 reasons to celebrate.”That innings against Sussex was something I didn’t believe I could do in my whole career,” Duckett reflected, “so to start the season off like that against a good attack did give me that belief that I could score big, big hundreds. If you start badly, it can be a tough summer. But I was in good form early on and tried to continue it throughout.”Continue it throughout he did, bookending his season with 208 against Kent in the penultimate game. Now, he has time to consider international cricket.Daunted does not seem to be a word in Duckett’s dictionary. “Being here now tops it off,” he said. “Hopefully people know I’m a relaxed guy, and even if I am worried I’ll tell myself that I’m not. There are a couple of guys resting for this tour and there are available spots, but I’m not expecting anything. I’m on an England tour at the age of 21, I’m very happy, so I’ll take whatever I can get.”Ben Duckett arrives in Bangladesh after a golden summer•Getty Images

When collecting his CWC Young Player of the Year award last week, Duckett drew laughs when he referred to “that little period between 100 and 150″. If it sounds like a witticism, it isn’t – it is a display of Duckett’s insatiable appetite for runs. The smallest of his four Championship tons was 185, and his 1338 red-ball runs were scored at a strike rate of 79.45. That is something that will not change.”That sounded bad,” he smiled, “but a lot of people get 100 and get out, so it’s important to concentrate, get through that period to 150 then the pressure is off, the fielders are all out, and you can just knock it around. That period after reaching 100, bowlers see that as an opportunity as they might nick you off, and I found that if I could get away again, they would start trying to bowl against the other guy.”All Duckett’s achievements this summer – which are outrageous, really, for a cricketer not 22 until halfway through this tour – suggest a player to the manner born. But it really has not been that simple. It is not yet three years since he was banished from an England Under-19 tour he was captaining for poor fitness, while last summer he received a ban for drink-driving.”I definitely haven’t made things easy for myself over the last few years. I have matured and am trying to let the cricket do the talking. These days I make sure I do all the simple things off the field – turning up on time etc. On the field, I’ve just got to keep scoring runs and only positive things will be said.”I was 17, 18, just finishing school going into the world of professional cricket. It was very different for me, I was in a different world from my mates who I was hanging around with, but now I’m head down and focused on cricket.”Northants’ coach David Ripley gave him an opporttunity at the top of the order whilst encouraging him to remain true to his adventurous inclindations. “At times in the past I’ve tried to be a player that I’m not, which is why I haven’t been successful. This year I played with freedom. Rips told me to play my game – at times that won’t come off, but when it does, cash in and that has been the main thing for me this year.”And now he knows his natural game, will he adjust for the top level? Duckett’s not for changing: “If I do get that chance… the way I score runs is playing attackingly so I don’t see why I’d change to be a blocker and bat all day. There will be times that I’ll need to adapt to do that, but generally I’ll play the way I have played to get here.”

Lancashire have signed South Africa allrounder Ryan McLaren as their overseas player for 2017.McLaren leaves Hampshire, whose Division One status in the Championship was saved when Durham were relegated instead because of their need for an ECB financial bail-out. But that reprieve has not been enough to keep McLaren on the south coast. Lancashire are his third county and, at 33, he will bring experience to a largely youthful squad.McLaren performed powerfully for Hampshire last season, particularly with the bat, although his impact was limited in both limited-overs formats. He previously played for Kent between 2007 and 2009.His most impressive displays for South Africa have come in ODIs, in which he has taking 77 wickets in 54 matches at an average of just 27.29, though his last international appearance was in 2014.Ashley Giles, Lancashire’s head coach and cricket director, said, “We’re thrilled to bring Ryan into our squad for next year. He brings international experience to what is a relatively young, but extremely talented changing room. He will certainly add depth to our seam bowling department but will also give us balance with the bat too. His record in both ODI and first-class cricket is outstanding.”

Fast bowler Joe Mennie is almost certain to make his Test debut in Hobart after Peter Siddle was ruled out due to a back injury.Australia’s selectors have also called on Jackson Bird as cover for the bowling unit but he is not officially part of the squad, which means Mennie is set to join Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc in the pace attack for the second Test against South Africa, starting on Saturday. Mennie was named 12th man for the WACA Test and was then released to play a Sheffield Shield match for South Australia.Siddle was preferred in Perth, where he was making his return to international cricket following a lay-off due to a stress fracture of the back, diagnosed following Australia’s Test tour of New Zealand earlier this year. Australia’s medical staff are hopeful that Siddle will recover quickly, but have taken a cautious approach due to his recent history.”Peter Siddle had some lower back soreness at the conclusion of the first Test match in Perth,” Australia’s team physio David Beakley said. “Whilst we expect bowlers to be sore after Test matches, this was slightly worse than we expected and given that he was returning from a significant back injury, we organised some scans today.”The scans demonstrated some low grade bone oedema around his old stress fracture that is likely to be a flare-up of his previous lower back injury. We are hopeful that this will resolve relatively quickly, but have withdrawn him from the squad for the second Test match in Hobart. We will monitor his recovery and have a better idea of when he will return to play in the next week or so.”Siddle’s injury is yet another consequence to be drawn from Australia’s horrid batting collapse on day two of the WACA Test, sending Australia’s bowlers – Siddle and Starc with limited preparations – back into the field only 24 hours after they had bowled the Proteas out on day one. The coach Darren Lehmann said back-to-back Tests would stretch his men physically after they were made to work hard by JP Duminy and Dean Elgar in particular.”They have bowled four days in a row,” Lehmann said. “They are pretty sore as I would imagine the South African boys would be, the two bowlers that bowled the whole game for them. All bowlers are going to be pretty sore and tight. We’ll just have to see how they pull up and make a call from there. They will have the same issues.”It’s a short turn-around. That’s the nature of cricket in Australia, back-to-back Test matches early on. The good thing, I thought we batted a lot better in the second innings. The disappointing thing is we were off to flyer, obviously 0 for 158, and we lost 10 for 86. That’s the thing that hurts you in a game, as you know. If we had the discipline and that in the first innings that we showed probably yesterday and today, we would have made a better score and a better fist of it in the first innings and had a lead.”That’s the challenge, isn’t it? First innings, they made us pay in the second, Duminy and Elgar batted really well. I thought our bowlers worked hard the whole game and then coming in, if we had batters in in the last session today, well, you never know, do you? We just lost batters at the wrong time.”Asked about Australia’s limited preparation, one Sheffield Shield match, and moving the first Test of summer from Brisbane to Perth, Lehmann said his hands were tied: “Can’t do anything about it. Love to, but we can’t.”The selectors had already added Callum Ferguson and Joe Burns to the Test squad to replace the injured Shaun Marsh (broken finger) and also provide cover for Adam Voges (hamstring). Lehmann confirmed both batsmen would be under consideration even if Voges is passed fit, placing further pressure on the underperforming Mitchell Marsh.”We have known about the broken finger for about three days, which has been very good from our boys not to get out to you guys,” Lehmann said. “We have known the squad is going to be changed in the last three days. I would say every spot is under pressure. That’s the nature of the beast if you don’t have success. I thought he batted quite well and was a bit unlucky with the decision, but that is part of the game as well.”Lehmann acknowledged that the national team were under a rare level of pressure, as four consecutive Test match losses have historically led to a change of the Australian captain or coach. “[We’ll] Try to clear their minds,” he said of the players. “But everyone has pressure. Everyone has pressure when not playing well. But also as a player you always have pressure to perform at international level.”If you have a few bad performances, there is always someone waiting in the wings. And that’s been the case for 100 years, that’s not going to change I wouldn’t think. We try and pick and stick where we possibly can and encourage the guys and we get in trouble when we don’t pick and stick, we get in trouble when do pick and stick with you guys. So then when we add someone, it all changes.”So, there is pressure on players day in, day out for your country and that’s part and parcel of whether you are playing for South Africa or Australia.”

The rising levels of pollution in Delhi have affected the cricket too, claiming the whole day’s play between Bengal and Gujarat at Feroz Shah Kotla and between Hyderabad and Tripura at Karnail Singh Stadium. The sun came out but failed to break through the dense smog hanging in India’s capital.The light improved for an hour or so during the day but players complained their eyes burnt when they went into the middle. Bengal players were seen leaving the ground wearing masks. With the air quality not expected to improve dramatically, these two matches are unlikely to produce a result.”This is the first time something like this happened in my career,” Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary said. “You can’t blame anyone. There is so much burning sensation in the eyes. After the toss, umpires asked both me and Parthiv and we both decided that we can’t play. During warm-up we felt that it’s not happening. We have to take care of our health also. This is something unheard of. But we are all responsible because when we burst crackers we really think about environmental pollution.”Residents in the capital region have been likening being in Delhi to being in a gas chamber. The trigger for the smog has been the after-effects of the fireworks on Diwali, and the burning of paddy stubble in the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana. The farmers burn the stubble to prepare the ground for the next crop, in the process damaging both the soil and the air quality. Harvesting with mechanised combines, they say, leaves them with no option but to burn the remaining stubble. When they harvested with hands, they could use the remaining stubble as fodder or to make cardboards.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:04