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New Zealand lead by 94 as wickets tumble

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Peter Nevill and the tail helped Australia unexpectedly gain a first-innings lead on the second day in Adelaide, but a controversial umpiring decision played arguably the biggest role in denying New Zealand the advantage

The Report by Brydon Coverdale28-Nov-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details3:23

Rogers: Best day of cricket this season

The pink ball and green pitch have combined to produce a vivid brand of cricket over the first two days at Adelaide Oval, where a three-day Test now appears a near certainty. At stumps on the second evening, it was Australia who had the upper hand but in a match full of rapid momentum swings, New Zealand were well and truly still in the contest. Their lead of 94 runs with five wickets in hand could yet develop into a target that will challenge Australia.That the third innings was already half over was an indication of how quickly this Test had progressed. Runs were at a premium, with only three players having so far reached half-centuries, and none having made hundreds. On the first day 12 wickets had fallen and on the second, 13 more tumbled, but it was a not-out decision that may yet have the greatest impact on the result of the match, a reprieve for Nathan Lyon, who usually bats at No.11 for Australia.The scene was this: Australia were 8 for 118 in reply to New Zealand’s 202, and Lyon top-edged an attempted sweep off Mitchell Santner into his shoulder and up to slip. New Zealand’s appeal was denied on field by umpire S Ravi, and Brendon McCullum asked for a review, confident that Australia would soon be 9 for 118. But despite evidence that would have convinced most courts of law, the third umpire Nigel Llong was unswayed.After five minutes of replays, Llong upheld Ravi’s decision. There was a clear Hot Spot on the top edge of Lyon’s bat, and he had walked halfway to the dressing room. There also seemed to be a deviation in the ball’s course. But nothing showed up on Snicko, which appeared to create enough doubt in Llong’s mind. To add to the farce, he checked also if it could have been lbw off Lyon’s shoulder, but seemed not to notice that the Eagle Eye replay was of the previous delivery.It was a costly call for New Zealand. Lyon and Peter Nevill went on to compile the highest partnership of the match, adding a further 72 runs after the review. Undeterred by his near miss, Lyon continued to sweep with the enthusiasm of an Olympic curler, and the shot brought him plenty of runs, including the second six of his Test career. At the other end, Nevill played the perfect innings for the moment, his 66 the top score of the match so far.Eventually Lyon was caught at gully off Trent Boult for 34, but Mitchell Starc hobbled to the crease in spite of the stress fracture in his foot, and thumped 20 runs off one Mark Craig over and 24 in total. He was not out when Nevill holed out to deep cover off Doug Bracewell, and Australia had somehow turned what seemed a certain hefty deficit into a 22-run first-innings lead.It also meant that New Zealand would face the challenging task of batting under lights, when the pink ball seems to swing most. And even without Starc, Australia’s pace trio of Josh Hazlewood, Peter Siddle and Mitchell Marsh asked some serious questions of the New Zealand top order. Martin Guptill had no answers, caught at gully for 17 when he drove at a fullish outswinger from Hazlewood, completing a disappointing series with the bat.Shaun Marsh’s return to Test cricket ended in a run-out for 2•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

His opening partner Tom Latham again survived the early overs but could not push on. In every innings of this series, Latham has reached double figures but never has he scored more than 50. This time, he too drove at Hazlewood and edged behind to Nevill for 10. Most importantly for New Zealand’s hopes, Kane Williamson also fell cheaply, a faint tickle behind off Mitchell Marsh ending his innings on 9.Australia are adamant they need an allrounder in case a fast man breaks down, so in the absence of Starc there were great expectations on Marsh to step up. Getting rid of Williamson was the perfect start; dismissing McCullum was a bonus. On 20, McCullum prodded forward and was struck on the pad by Marsh; McCullum challenged the umpire’s out decision but it was an ambitious review, and he had to depart.One more wicket was to come, Ross Taylor trapped right in front by Hazlewood for 32, and nobody was more relieved than Steven Smith, who had put down Taylor at slip off Hazlewood before he had scored. The pink ball was easy enough for the 42,372 spectators to see under the floodlights but Smith seemed to have trouble watching it into his hands, also putting down BJ Watling later in the night on 2, also at slip off Hazlewood.By stumps, Watling was on 7 and Santner had 13, and with the score at 5 for 116, they and the tail needed to stick around for as long as possible on day three to set Australia a challenging target. Quite what such a target would be was unclear, for the Australians had collapsed to 8 for 116 themselves earlier in the day. Although the first session brought only 62 runs, the fewest of any session in the series, the match was moving at rapid pace.New Zealand seemed to have taken control of the game in that first session, collecting six wickets and doing almost nothing wrong. The fast bowlers swung the ball and kept the runs tight, the spinners extracted turn and wickets, and the fielding was as outstanding as anything seen so far in the series. Especially memorable was McCullum’s diving stop at mid-off, then his roll and throw to have Shaun Marsh run out for 2.Marsh had nobody to blame but himself for his call and hesitation, and it was the second wicket of the day after Tim Southee hooped the ball brilliantly to have Adam Voges caught at slip for 13. Mitchell Marsh replaced his brother and prodded an edge behind for 4 off Doug Bracewell, and it was just reward for Bracewell’s nagging lines and the pressure that he built.Bracewell bowled with such impressive economy that he could have been AAA-rated by Standard & Poor’s, his 12.1 overs bringing him 3 for 18 at less than 1.5 an over. Smith was the only Australian batsman to show the necessary patience and he reached his half-century from 108 balls, but he could not help going after the spin of Mark Craig, who turned the ball enough to catch Smith’s inside edge as he danced down the pitch and Watling moved quickly to take a sharp catch.Smith’s 53 had given Australia a base, but Craig soon added Siddle, caught in close for a duck, and Santner bowled Hazlewood for 4 to bring Australia to their knees. Unfortunately for New Zealand, when Lyon went to his knees for a sweep and was reprieved in the third umpire’s room, the momentum shifted back Australia’s way.

Lodha panel to submit report on BCCI on January 4

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The RM Lodha committee will submit, on January 4, its final report that deals with recommending changes to the BCCI’s constitution and manner of functioning, a task assigned to it by the Supreme Court at the start of the year

Nagraj Gollapudi21-Dec-2015The RM Lodha committee will, on January 4, submit its final report that deals with recommending changes to the BCCI’s constitution and manner of functioning, a task assigned to it by the Supreme Court at the start of 2015.It is understood that the three-member committee will concurrently submit the report to the court as well as the BCCI, before making it public at a media conference. The panel had sought an extension in July to complete the report, following which the Supreme Court had set a deadline of December 31.The report assumes significance as the Supreme Court has made it clear that the panel’s suggestions would be binding upon the BCCI. The timing of the report interestingly coincides with a reform drive initiated by BCCI president Shashank Manohar after his election in October. Incidentally, Manohar met the panel recently, but refused to divulge any details.In January this year, the Supreme Court tasked the three-member panel – comprising Lodha, a former Chief Justice of India, along with retired Supreme Court judges Ashok Bhan and RV Raveendran – with determining the quantum of punishment for Gurunath Meiyappan, Raj Kundra and their respective franchises. The panel was also directed to “examine and make suitable recommendations to the BCCI for such reforms in its practices and procedures and such amendments in the Memorandum of Association, Rules and Regulations as may be considered necessary and proper.”The court wanted the committee to suggest amendments to the processes followed by the BCCI “with a view to preventing sporting frauds, conflict of interests, streamlining the working of BCCI to make it more responsive to the expectations of the public at large.”The committee initiated that process in April when it sent an exhaustive, pointed and incisive 82-point questionnaire to various high-ranked BCCI officials, both past and present.

ICC WT20 tickets yet to go on sale

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“The anticipation in the public only builds up closer to the event, but if the tickets are made available well in advance, those asking for complimentary passes make your life difficult,” says a BCCI official

Sidharth Monga and Nagraj Gollapudi18-Jan-2016The tickets for the World Twenty20 are likely to go up for sale by the end of this week, with the BCCI saying it doesn’t think it is too late for the tickets to be made available.The first qualifier starts on March 8, but the Indian board is happy to have the tickets up for grabs a little under two months from the first match of the “main” tournament on March 15. However, when the schedule of the World Twenty20 was announced, the ICC insisted that the qualifying part of the tournament be called the first round of the tournament.At any rate, India have set the record for putting the tickets up for sale with least amount of planning time available for the fans when it comes to world events.For the World Cup co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in February-March 2011, tickets went up for sale on June 1, 2010. In 2012, Sri Lanka offered World T0 tickets six months before the event. The West Indies provided a five-and-a-month notice for the World T20 in 2010. Bangladesh, who hosted the World T20 in March 2014, started the sale of tickets on November 7, 2013. Even South Africa, who hosted the first World T20, put up tickets for sale three months in advance.The ticketing process is always the host board’s responsibility. In an emailed response, the ICC has refused to be drawn into any criticism of the ticketing process. “It will be inappropriate to compare the ICC WT20 India 2016 with any previous event as the preparation for every event is different,” the ICC said.However, a source in the ICC, closely involved with the organising part of the event, told ESPNcricinfo that everything from announcing venues to making tickets available has been handled in the usual ad-hoc manner. “The BCCI pays no heed or provides reasons for delays,” the source said.That the venues were announced only three months before the event were already a source of frustration for the travelling fan who usually looks for bargains by booking air tickets and accommodation well in advance. The fans looking to travel to India will be left even more frustrated because the tickets are not readily available, especially for an event in India, and you ideally don’t want to make travel plans before securing tickets for the matches you wish to attend.The BCCI, though, doesn’t feel it is late. A BCCI official said the dynamics of hosting an event in India were different, and it shouldn’t even be compared with the 2011 World Cup, which was co-hosted by three nations. “There is still two months to go,” he said, “The first match of the main tournament is on March 15. And it works differently in India anyway. The anticipation in the public only builds up closer to the event, but if the tickets are made available well in advance, those asking for complimentary passes make your life difficult.”Tickets in India generally go up for sale less than a week before international bilaterals or smaller tournaments. A huge chunk of the tickets is anyway not put up for sale with local associations handing them out for free to their members and influential people in their constituencies.

Morgan refuses to panic after defeats

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Eoin Morgan said England had to learn quickly from their mistakes ahead of the World T20 as they ended their tour of South Africa with a fifth successive limited-overs defeat

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Feb-2016Eoin Morgan said England had to learn quickly from their mistakes ahead of the World T20 as they ended their tour of South Africa with a fifth successive limited-overs defeat.England slumped from a promising position to be bowled out for 171 in Johannesburg, losing their last seven wickets for 14 runs in 20 deliveries. South Africa then blasted their way to a nine-wicket win with more than five overs to spare, with Morgan calling the bowling performance their “worst on tour”.Having won their previous six T20s before the series with South Africa, Morgan said the team knew there would be days when things didn’t come together but back-to-back defeats would not be cause for panic.”I don’t think it’s a huge setback,” Morgan said. “I think the mistakes we made today were pretty simple, as towards the end of the one-day series and the first Twenty20 – they all had to do with the basics of the game.”The collapse towards the end of our innings, we had the right plan, but our execution was pretty poor.”The bowling started poorly again, and we couldn’t claw it back. The bowling display, certainly at the start, has been our worst on the tour.”England had made a change to their line-up after a last-ball defeat in Cape Town on Friday, bringing in Sam Billings to bolster the batting, but their three-man seam attack could do little to slow South Africa as AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla put on 125 for the first wicket, including 88 off the six-over Powerplay.”Once you allow guys like AB de Villiers to come in and take the game to you … he can really punish you – and he did,” Morgan said.”We’ve been quite lucky with this team. We’ve had very few setbacks, and knew we would have them at some stage. It’s more important that we regroup, and learn from this as much as we can. The first point of reference is our basics … they have let us down.”Defeat meant England conceded both limited-overs series to South Africa, having led 2-0 in the ODIs with three to play.”The majority of me feels we didn’t deserve to win,” Morgan said, “we haven’t really taken our chance to hurt the opposition in either the one-dayers or Twenty20s.”

Patient Madhya Pradesh set up solid base

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Madhya Pradesh’s batsmen harvested the benefits of a patient approach in the morning and some inconsistent bowling to close out the day as the happier team after Bengal had invited them to bat

The Report by Arun Venugopal at the Brabourne03-Feb-2016
ScorecardNaman Ojha struck ten fours during his knock•PTI

Madhya Pradesh’s batsmen harvested the benefits of a patient approach in the morning and some inconsistent bowling to close out the day as the happier team after Bengal had invited them to bat. Half-centuries from Aditya Shrivastava, Naman Ojha and Harpreet Singh were responsible for Madhya Pradesh setting up a sturdy base for a big score.Madhya Pradesh nearly gave it away in the second session when Naman and Shrivastava fell in quick succession after a 102-run stand for the third wicket. But Harpreet and captain Devendra Bundela (42*), despite their slightly unconvincing beginning, were alert to scoring opportunities after the pitch dried out and became quicker and put on an unbroken stand of 92 runs.Manoj Tiwary had suggested on Tuesday that batting first was a no-brainer on the Brabourne pitch. Whether intended or otherwise it turned out to be a red herring as he eventually opted to bowl on a pitch that had a moderate distribution of grass. His decision received an early endorsement when Veer Pratap Singh removed opener Jalaj Saxena in the third over. While Bengal’s seamers tried to leverage what was on offer – despite the morning freshness there wasn’t any exaggerated movement, but there was decent carry – Madhya Pradesh didn’t hit back with anything flashy.Opener Shrivastava and Rajat Patidar, a pair of 22-year-olds who have begun their careers promisingly, adopted a conservative response, and fully neutralised any assistance the bowlers were getting. Runs weren’t a priority in the morning as they managed a mere eight from overs 10 to 20, playing out five maidens in the process. As it happens at times, Madhya Pradesh found their release through Patidar’s dismissal. Seamer Sayan Mondal, whose action culminates much like that of Shane Watson’s, had him bowled with his third ball, and brought Naman to the crease.Naman’s arrival brought about a slight revision in strategy, and with Shrivastava finding his bearings as well, Madhya Pradesh latched onto scoring opportunities more often. While Tiwary had a cluster of catching men on the off side to Naman – at one point he had a silly mid-off, short cover, extra cover and mid-off apart from two slips – he still coaxed the ball through the gaps. Whenever Tiwary opened up some space on the off side with a sweeper cover in position, Naman and Shrivastava ensured the fielder was made to sprint to either side.Ashok Dinda was locked in an interesting one-on-one tussle with Naman. After his ploy of getting the ball to tail in late was repeatedly met by Ojha with a dead bat or a firmer push down the ground, he resorted to short-pitched stuff. While his bowling was now visibly quicker, the pitch was slow enough for the batsman to either duck under or dead-bat the deliveries. However, just when Madhya Pradesh looked set to convert their incremental gains into something more imposing, Shrivastava fell to an innocuous delivery from Pragyan Ojha, whose length was always a touch too short. Naman went soon after as his lazy waft to Veer Pratap Singh, whose lines were fairly consistent, was snapped up at first slip. Therafter, Bundela and Harpreet made sure Madhya Pradesh built on the morning gains.Bengal coach Sairaj Bahutule defended the decision to bowl first and conceded his bowlers could have done better. According to him, despite some good bowling in patches their lines helped the batsmen get away with leaving the ball frequently in the morning. Shrivastava said Madhya Pradesh would have bowled first as well on what he called a “damp pitch.” He said the ploy of wearing the bowlers down in the first session was necessary because scoring shots were hampered by the movement off the pitch.

WI grab title after Brathwaite 6, 6, 6, 6

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Needing 19 off the last over against England, Carlos Brathwaite clubbed four consecutive sixes off Ben Stokes, as West Indies clinched their second World Twenty20 title in scarcely-believable fashion at Eden Gardens

The Report by Brydon Coverdale03-Apr-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsChampion: Carlos Brathwaite hit four sixes on the trot to break England hearts•Getty Images

Write off West Indies cricket at your peril. Less than four months in, 2016 is already a year of great celebration and renewal for cricket in the Caribbean. West Indies won the Under-19 World Cup. West Indies won the Women’s World T20. And now West Indies have won the World T20. In doing so, Darren Sammy’s men have become the first team to win two World T20 tournaments, having also triumphed in Sri Lanka in 2012.Those are the facts. The how is all the more extraordinary. Set 156 to beat England and win the championship, West Indies found themselves needing 19 off the last over, to be bowled by Ben Stokes. Marlon Samuels, who had steered the chase, was on 85. But he was at the wrong end. This was all down to Carlos Brathwaite, the allrounder who emerged on the Test tour of Australia just a few months ago.Six. Six. Six. Six. Job done with two balls to spare. The first one was a poor ball from Stokes, down leg, clubbed over deep backward square. Then a length ball slammed down the ground over long-on. Then over long-off. One run needed. Push a single? Why bother when you have the power, like Brathwaite, to crunch another six over the leg side. The West Indies players streamed onto the field in jubilation. They had not only done it. They had done it in style.And all this from a team that, in the weeks before this tournament, was stuck in another pay dispute with their board. But that is for another day. This day was about what happened on the field, and West Indies dominated the first over of the match and the last over of the match. England, along the way, had their own ups and downs, but by taking wickets throughout the chase gave themselves a strong chance of claiming their second World T20 title.But if Brathwaite destroyed them at the end, Samuels was the one who chipped away at them through most of the innings. Samuels walked to the crease in the second over of the chase, when England had surprised West Indies by using Joe Root with the new ball, and he duly claimed Johnson Charles and Chris Gayle in his first over. Samuels had a mountain of work to do, and he did it, just as he had in 2012.Samuels is an enigmatic cricketer, one who seems to spend long periods in hibernation. During those times he looks like a Don’t Care Bear. But when he awakes, he is capable of anything, as he showed during the World T20 final in 2012, when his 78 from 56 balls set up the West Indies victory over Sri Lanka. Here when he came out of his hibernation, he was a Kung Fu Panda, clubbing England’s bowlers and kicking them into the dust.And he did it with limited support. England’s bowling was good. David Willey picked up 3 for 20, Liam Plunkett was hard to get away, Adil Rashid cost less than six an over. Dwayne Bravo managed 25 off 27 balls but besides him, Samuels and Brathwaite were the only ones to reach double figures. Brathwaite’s final score was 34 from 10 balls, not out. Notably, Root did not bowl an over after taking 2 for 9 in his first.West Indies found themselves needing 45 off the last four overs, then 38 off the last three, and 27 off the last two. But Eoin Morgan had left himself with Stokes and Root as his only bowling options, and Stokes could not hit the mark. Chasing had again proved successful for West Indies, who did not lose a toss in this tournament and bowled first every time.You could sense the relief for Darren Sammy, then, when he won the toss for the 10th successive time in T20 internationals, and sent England in. Ball one, Samuel Badree skidded it past the bat of Jason Roy, who was struck on the pad. Not out, sliding down leg. Ball two, Badree skidded it past the bat of Roy and onto the stumps. Roy had starred with 78 in England’s semi-final win over New Zealand, but this was going to be a rather different sort of innings.When Alex Hales flicked Andre Russell to short fine leg in the next over, it felt like an anti-climax was brewing. So too when Morgan, perplexed by Badree’s wrong’un, edged to Gayle at slip to leave the total at 23 for 3 in the fifth over. But Badree bowled out, his figures of 2 for 16 impressive, and suddenly it was more of a contest.Root was outstanding in the face of wickets falling around him. He struck seven boundaries and all were from classy, traditional cricket strokes, mostly along the ground, through the gaps. When eventually he innovated, he immolated. On 54 from 36, he fell when he tried to paddle Brathwaite over short fine leg, but in that position Sulieman Benn dived forward to take a sharp catch low to the ground.West Indies’ fielding was universally outstanding. No catches were dropped, and some of those taken were far from straightforward. Badree, Brathwaite and Russell were all hard to get away. Bravo found three wickets, including those of Stokes and Moeen Ali in the space of three balls. But the fifth bowler – a combination of Benn and Sammy – leaked heavily.Benn’s three overs cost 40 runs and Jos Buttler clubbed him for a pair of consecutive sixes in his 36 off 22 balls, and Sammy bowled just one over for 14. Sammy finds himself in the strange position of having captained West Indies to one of their greatest triumphs in recent years, but in doing so having almost done himself out of a job. He made only eight runs in this tournament and bowled three overs for 31 runs. In three games he neither batted nor bowled.But frankly, who cares? Sammy is a dual World T20-winning captain. His men have done what no others in cricket have done. And they have given the Caribbean region a hat-trick of triumphs in 2016. What a year for West Indies.

We have the top bowling side in the world – Sanath Jayasuriya

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Sri Lanka chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya believes that the side has one of the best bowling attacks

Sa'adi Thawfeeq08-May-20161:28

Hopefully we make strides everyday – Ford

Sri Lanka are in a period of transition, having lost seven of 11 Tests they played in 2015. Sanath Jayasuriya, who returned as chief selector, little more than a year since he stepped down from the role, however, believed that the side had one of the best bowling attacks.”The one department we are really good at is bowling,” Jayasuriya said. “We have the top best bowling side in the world – five fast bowlers and spinners who are all experienced and very good.”The Sri Lanka pace attack for the three-match Test series in England comprises Dhammika Prasad, Shaminda Eranga, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal and Dushmantha Chameera. Prasad, who is returning from a back injury he sustained during a tour match in New Zealand, Eranga, and Pradeep had played key roles in delivering Sri Lanka a 100-run victory at Headingley. Dusmantha Chameera, the newbie, had impressed with his raw pace and bouncers in New Zealand. He finished the series as the second-highest wicket taker with 12 wickets in two matches at 24.

‘Took this job since I like the challenge’ – Jayasuriya

Jayasuriya, who began his second stint as chief selector last month, said his first stint was not as difficult as the one he had taken up now. During his first stint from January 2013 to March 2015, Sri Lanka sealed their maiden World T20 title in addition to winning their first Test series in England. Both landmarks came in 2014, before Sri Lanka made the 2015 World Cup quarter-finals.
“I took this job on because I like the challenge,” Jayasuriya said. “Thilanga (Sumathipala) and the Sports Minister had a lot of confidence in me. They knew what I did during my first two-year stint as chief selector. Thilanga has been in touch with me from the first day he was elected SLC president. He asked me what kind of a role I can play to help Sri Lanka cricket, he knows how hard I work and my commitment.”

Rangana Herath had retired from limited-overs cricket, but continues to be vital cog in the bowling department. He has played 67 Tests and is three short of 300 wickets.Jayasuriya identified batting as the only worry and said that the management had to be “patient” with the young batsmen. He cited the case of Lahiru Thirimanne as an example. The left-handed batsman was dropped for the New Zealand Tests and was originally not picked for the World Twenty20 in India, but top-scored for Sri Lanka in each of the warm-up encounters preceding their tournament – hitting 41 against New Zealand, and 45 against Pakistan.”The only thing which we are lagging behind is our batting that is where you need to give them a little bit of time,” Jayasuriya said. “You can’t find batsmen overnight you have to be a bit more patient with them.”That is why we have given a chance to Thrimanne; we know how he can perform. He is going through a lean patch and he should get out of it very soon.”Jayasuriya stressed on the importance of continuity in selection and believed that the players picked for the England tour were the “future of Sri Lanka cricket”.”We think the players selected for the England tour is the future of Sri Lanka cricket,” Jayasuriya said. “That’s why I sat with the outgoing chairman of selectors Aravinda de Silva and we picked the team because we needed continuity in what he was thinking and in what we had in mind.”They are talented cricketers we have and we want them to deal with the pressures at international level. What we need to give them is the confidence to play at international level. We need to build their confidence by giving them continuous exposure.”It’s a very talented team and they are very good. They have been in the system for a long time in the Sri Lanka ‘A’, Development squads etc. We have to groom this talent. They are good domestic players who have played professional cricket overseas. What they need is international exposure at the highest level. We have given them that chance and we now have to be patient.”Jayasuriya also cautioned not to expect big results from Sri Lanka in England, although they had won the Test series 1-0 in 2014.”You can’t get results overnight, the English tour is very tough,” Jayasuriya said. “We have to look at the players’ performance in England on the long term. We can’t go on the short term just for the sake of winning. It’s not easy playing in England and even though we won in 2014 we had to fight hard. You have to face reality we have to give the boys a chance and provide them with the maximum what the country can give.”

India to tour West Indies for seven weeks starting July 6

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The Indian team will tour the West Indies for seven weeks, starting July 6, for four Tests and two practice matches

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jun-2016India will tour the West Indies for seven weeks, starting July 6, for four Tests and two practice matches. The Tests will be played in Antigua and Barbuda, Jamaica, St Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago.The tour will start with a two-day practice match from July 9 in St Kitts followed by a three-day warm-up match from July 14 at the same venue. The first Test will begin on July 21, the second on July 30, the third on August 9 and the last one on August 18.Despite the BCCI and WICB confirming the tour more than six months ago, the announcement of the itinerary was delayed owing to the series clashing with the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), which starts on June 30. The WICB was involved in talks with CPL officials to avoid any potential venue clash. The BCCI also sent its general manager MV Sridhar to do a recce of the venues in May.Head of operations at the West Indies Cricket Board, Roland Holder, said all four venues were “ready to host the visiting Indian team.” The last time India toured the West Indies was in June 2011 for a three-Test series, which India won 1-0.Last December, the top brass of the two boards had met in India following which WICB president Dave Cameron had said the Indian board would honour the four-Test series, listed in the ICC’s Future Tours Programme. The series was in doubt after the BCCI had suspended all bilateral ties immediately after West Indies had pulled out of the India tour mid-way in October 2014.Last month, former BCCI president Shashank Manohar told ESPNcricinfo that the board had waived off the $41.97 million damages imposed by the previous BCCI administration on the WICB for abandoning the 2014 tour. Manohar had said the WICB had guaranteed West Indies would return to India in 2017 to complete the unfinished matches.The Indian team is expected to depart for the Caribbean with a new coaching staff, applications for which were advertised by the BCCI on Wednesday. The deadline for receiving the applications is June 10. It will be followed by a screening process by the BCCI, which will then submit a list of names to the soon-to-be-formed cricket advisory committee comprising reputed former players.That committee will then submit a shortlist to the BCCI, which will likely discuss this further, if not unveil the new coach, during its working committee meeting in Dharamsala on June 25. A new addition in the support staff will be a chef, who has been appointed by the BCCI to cater to the vegetarians in the squad.

Stokes absence sets selection poser

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England will have to change the balance of their ODI side due to Ben Stokes’ injury, with Jonny Bairstow favoured to come in as an extra batsman

George Dobell20-Jun-2016Like your health and the brake cables in your car, there are some things you appreciate more in their absence. So it is with Ben Stokes. While Stokes has yet to nail his limited-overs international career – his statistics are modest and his last four deliveries were hit for six – you can perhaps best judge his value to the England side by the difficulty they have in trying to replace him.Without Stokes, absent from the Royal London ODI series as he recovers from knee surgery, it is desperately hard for England to balance their side. They face the choice of either playing just five bowlers, with Joe Root in reserve, or weakening their batting in order to squeeze in the extra bowler should one of the five experience injury or an off day.What they have confirmed is that Jos Buttler will keep wicket and Eoin Morgan will bat at No. 4. While they open the batting with Moeen Ali, who has two ODI centuries in the top order, it seems likely they will stick with the opening pair of Alex Hales and Jason Roy who have set the tone for so much of the improvement in recent times.And while they bat Moeen, David Willey or Chris Woakes at No. 6 and make room for five other bowlers, it seems more likely that they will make use of Jonny Bairstow’s outstanding form, bat him in the top six and go with just the five bowlers. Bairstow is, therefore, set to be the beneficiary of Stokes’ absence.In normal circumstances, you might expect England to include two spinners. But given the wet weather the Nottingham area has experienced in recent days – the groundsman reckons the pitch has had four hours of sunshine since June 10 – there is a strong case for playing four seamers and just one spinner. Whether that is Moeen – at No. 10, the highest rated ODI bowler in this series – or Adil Rashid is debatable: Moeen has the better economy rate (4.91 compared to Rashid’s 5.89) but Rashid the marginally better strike-rate (45.10 compared to 46.20).Their batting averages hardly separate them, either. Moeen’s 27.61 looks better than Rashid’s 24.50, but if you include only innings made by Moeen at No. 7 – his likely position – his average drops to just 19.10. He remains more likely to play, alongside Steven Finn, Willey, Woakes and Chris Jordan, but it is not a straightforward decision.The balance issue is rendered more difficult by the form of the captain. Morgan has now gone 18 international innings without a half-century – a run that extends back to November and the first ODI of the series against Pakistan – and, in the South Africa ODI series, averaged only 12.80. He enjoyed a strong English season in 2015, scoring a century and seven half-centuries in 11 successive ODI innings, but given he averaged just 18.00 in the World Cup, he needs a good series here to prevent the doubts over his position gathering. On form, it is hard to justify him batting above either Buttler or Bairstow.In such circumstances, there might have been a case for recalling Samit Patel or Ravi Bopara to bat in the top six and offer some extra overs. But it seems their time has gone. Right or wrong, it could be seen as a retrograde step.England are, after all, only a year into their brave new world. While results have been patchy – they have lost their last three ODIs and are rated below fifth-placed Sri Lanka in the ICC rankings – they have identified a group of players they hope will take them into the Champions Trophy (which, it might be noted, would have been ruined by rain had it been held this year) next year and the World Cup in 2019. England, currently No. 6, could go ahead of Sri Lanka in the ODI rankings if they win this series by a margin of two games or more.”Ben leaves a huge hole,” Morgan said. “He is a key member of our side. It’d be the same thing if the likes of Moeen Ali went down. Having Moeen batting at possibly six or seven is a luxury when he’s a frontline spin bowler.”We’re still at the beginning of building hopefully what will be a successful campaign in the 2019 World Cup. It’s important for us not only to stick with the same group of players in order to grow their experience but also to find some consistency in our performances.”We’re 12 months down the road and we have built a lot of confidence. There’s a bit more expectation on us as a side and it’s important to relish that expectation. The Champions Trophy is this time next year and the World Cup is two years later so as the home side we’re looking to put in performances so that people don’t see us as outsiders.”Wet weather in Nottingham interrupted preparations for the first ODI•PA Photos

Whatever the final selection, we can expect England to continue the same bold cricket that has characterised their performances over the last 12 months. While it is hard to believe the Trent Bridge pitch will have pace and firmness of recent tracks here – Nottinghamshire scored 445 and 415 in consecutive 50-over innings at the start of this month; their opponents replied with 425 and 379 respectively – it still seems reasonable to expect England to respond to every challenge by attacking more.”We’re trying to change the mentality,” Morgan said. “The mentality was, that if you’re getting beaten around the park, you might try and bowl tight and move things around. But actually trying to get the batsman out is still a priority.”It’s the same with the batting. If we’re three down and you get bowled a half-volley, you still have to hit it. It’s part and parcel of changing the mindset of the side.”I went straight from the one-day series and played a lot of county cricket last summer and the way England played had set the agenda about the brand of aggressive cricket we were playing. Everybody seemed to relate to it. A lot of the younger guys were loving it. It is very important to connect with county cricket because we can sometimes become detached and that is not good for anybody.”Everywhere you look around the counties, the limited-overs game is being played with more belief and confidence than at any time in memory. Emboldened by events in the last 12 months – the revolution of the New Zealand ODI series, the progress of the World T20, the McCullum-isation of English cricket – players have bought into the more positive method demonstrated by Morgan and co. The mentality of English cricket changed. Whatever the results, they have become a vastly more entertaining side to watch.

Ireland announce West Indies ODI

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Ireland have announced an ODI against West Indies against in September next year and have also confirmed the schedule for the tri-series in May involving New Zealand and Bangladesh

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jul-2016Ireland have announced an ODI against West Indies against in September next year and have also confirmed the schedule for the tri-series in May involving New Zealand and Bangladesh.West Indies will play their match on September 13 ahead of the one-day series against England later that month. It will be the first time they have met since Ireland beat West Indies by four wickets in Nelson during the 2015 World Cup.It will also bring Phil Simmons, the former Ireland coach who is now in charge of West Indies, back to face his former charges.”I’m really looking forward to bringing the West Indies team to Ireland,” said Simmons. “I had eight great years there as coach and made some lasting friendships as well as winning trophies. It should be a tough contest and Irish conditions will be ideal in helping our preparations for England.”The tri-series in May will be part of the preparation for New Zealand and Bangladesh ahead of the Champions Trophy.Ireland take on Bangladesh in the first game on May 12 before facing New Zealand two days later.New Zealand and Bangladesh go head-to-head on May 17, with Ireland playing Bangladesh for a second time on May 19.Ireland’s final game is against New Zealand on May 21, with the last game in the series between New Zealand and Bangladesh taking place on May 24.Ireland will begin their 2017 season with a two-match series against England with matches at Lord’s and Bristol.