Kevin Pietersen’s absence from international cricket continues after he was left out of England’s squad for the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka

Andrew McGlashan21-Aug-2012Kevin Pietersen’s absence from international cricket continues after he was left out of England’s squad for the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka as well as the group for the one-day series against South Africa.Michael Lumb, the Nottinghamshire opener, and Sussex allrounder Luke Wright, who were both part of the team that won the title in 2010, are recalled in the 15-man squad. Ravi Bopara, whose summer has been interrupted by personal problems, secures a place in both the T20 and one-day squads.Stuart Broad, who captains England in Twenty20, has been rested from the one-day series against South Africa with the selectors feeling he will benefit from a break before leading the side next month. James Anderson, Broad’s new-ball partner in Tests, does make the squad while Danny Briggs is the second specialist spinner.Geoff Miller, the national selector, said: “Stuart Broad has an important period coming up leading our T20 side and with a three match series followed closely by the ICC World T20 we feel a two week break from cricket is in the best interests of both Stuart and the team.”Kevin Pietersen’s future involvement is still being determined and he was therefore not considered for selection in either squad.”

England World Twenty20 squad

Stuart Broad (capt), Jonny Bairstow, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Danny Briggs, Jos Buttler, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Craig Kieswetter, Michael Lumb, Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Graeme Swann, Luke Wright

Pietersen’s omission was expected following the controversial last few weeks which included being dropped for the final Test against South Africa at Lord’s. Although he apologised to the ECB for ‘provocative’ texts he sent to South African players during the Headingley Test the board have indicated there will not be any swift conclusion and return for Pietersen.Andy Flower, the England team director, said: “It’s a sad situation for everyone involved. He played superb in the last Twenty20 World Cup but the circumstances at the moment mean he can’t be selected,” he told Sky Sports News. “There are still issues unresolved and we will be addressing those when we have time.”Let me be clear, this is not just an issue between the captain and Kevin. There are deeper issues, certainly of trust and mutual respect that need to be addressed. Those issues have to be resolved before there is anyway forward.”Pietersen was Man of the Tournament in the Caribbean when England won their first global trophy, but in June retired from limited-overs internationals after deciding to quit 50-over cricket which made him unavailable for Twenty20 under the terms of the central contracts. However, following the Headingley Test against South Africa he had a u-turn and via a video on YouTube made himself available for all international cricket before, the next day, being left out of the Test side.Most of the players selected have been part of England’s Twenty20 cricket this year, but Wright and Lumb both last played in June 2011 against Sri Lanka at Bristol. The pair enjoyed impressive Friends Life t20 seasons with Wright making 309 runs at a strike-rate of 161.78 while Lumb made 252 runs in eight matches. Wright also struck a 44-ball hundred during the Big Bash League in Australia.Lumb formed England’s opening partnership alongside Craig Kieswetter during the 2010 tournament in West Indies but his career took a slump, not helped by injury, following that event before his move to Nottinghamshire sparked a revival this season.The same 15-man squad will face South Africa in three matches next month. England begin the defense of their title against Afghanistan on September 21.

Tim Ambrose and Ian Blackwell piled on the runs at Edgbaston as Warwickshire all but ended Nottinghamshire’s Championship hopes

Jon Culley at Edgbaston30-Aug-2012Nottinghamshire 188 for 4 (Hales 80*, Read 54*) trail Warwickshire 504 for 6 (Ambrose 151*, Westwood 81, Blackwell 69*) by 316 runs
ScorecardTim Ambrose notched his first century in three years, while Ian Blackwell added quick runs•PA Photos

If the bounce in Warwickshire’s step and the low set of Nottinghamshire’s shoulders was anything to go by as Tim Ambrose and Ian Blackwell piled on the runs at Edgbaston, the participants in this game believe the die is already cast in the race for the County Championship.Warwickshire, with every chance of taking maximum bonus points, will be happy with a draw from a rain-affected match, which would consolidate what already looks like a title-winning lead. When Nottinghamshire slumped to 69 for 4, their cause not helped when James Taylor trod on his stumps after he had scored only a single, it seemed they might do even better than that. At least Chris Read, who comes with a desire to uphold team pride as fierce as most players, was ready to make a fight of it.When bad light forced an early close – early in times of overs left, if not the time on the clock – he and Alex Hales had put on 119 for the fifth wicket, with every hope of adding a few more on the final morning. Another 167 are required, however, for the follow-on point to be passed.This is because Warwickshire, who were 298 for 5 before rain washed out the whole of the second day, cracked on at such a pace in the morning session against a weakened Nottinghamshire attack they were able to declare on 504 for 6, just seven overs after lunch. Maximum batting points were sealed with eight balls of the first 110 overs to spare during an onslaught that added 206 in just 37 overs.Tim Ambrose finished unbeaten on 151 – his first century since he hit three in 2009 – after rarely passing up a chance to score against weary Nottinghamshire bowling. His hundred came off 169 balls with 17 fours, to which he had added five more plus a six before the declaration came. There was an impressive crispness to his driving and there was a confidence about him, after so long without a substantial score, that you suspect reflects the buoyancy in the whole Warwickshire team at the moment, aware that the title that eluded them last season is now theirs to lose.Nottinghamshire have conceded, more or less, that if anyone is to deprive Warwickshire this time, it will not be them. With Andre Adams taking no further part after aggravating his calf injury on Tuesday, the seam bowling trio of Luke Fletcher, Andy Carter and Paul Franks were unable to do much to stem the flow of runs and Graeme White, the left-arm spinner, took some heavy punishment, especially at the hands of Ian Blackwell. Fletcher, who is not the lightest man on the field, deserves special mention for his stamina, getting through 37 overs and finishing with an economy rate of 2.75 even after his last three went for 24.The only wicket to fall went to White after Chris Wright had added a first-half century for Warwickshire to the 69 Championship wickets he has taken since joining them from Essex towards the end of last season. Attempting to hit the ball over midwicket, Wright – ostensibly nightwatchman – got a leading edge which Carter collected at mid-off.Blackwell, on loan from Durham and with an interest in following Wright’s lead by obtaining a full contract, hit 69 off 59 balls, with five sixes, four of them off White. He may have to do more with the ball, however, to make his move permanent.Nottinghamshire, needing to pass 354 to avoid the follow-on, started badly when Riki Wessels, who had just found the boundary on the leg side with a similar shot, flicked a ball from Wright straight into the hands of Ian Westwood at square leg. Keith Barker, finding some dangerous swing, then drew the left-handed Michael Lumb to play at one outside off stump, taken by Varun Chopra at first slip.Taylor was unfortunate – or careless, depending on your point of view – when he went back to a ball from Wright and knocked the bails off with his boot as he played on the leg side. Either way, it was not what Nottinghamshire needed from the newly elevated Test batsman and when Adam Voges, chasing a widish ball from young Tom Milnes that kept somewhat low, was snapped up superbly by William Porterfield at gully, Nottinghamshire were in serious trouble. For Milnes, the 19-year-old seamer who has come in for Darren Maddy in this match, it was a first Championship wicket at Edgbaston and Warwickshire, their tails up, celebrated it with some gusto.But Alex Hales, after surviving an edge between first and second slip off Wright on 43, completed an 86-ball half century and had moved to 80 from 136 deliveries at the close, with Read responding to the challenge in his familiar, positive style. There is much work still to be done, however, if Warwickshire’s charge is to be delayed.

James Vince score a hundred for Hampshire before late wicket left Derbyshire wobbling in their bid to secure promotion

Jon Culley at Derby11-Sep-2012
ScorecardJames Vince has had a good season in one-day cricket but finally passed fifty in the Championship in the last match•Getty Images

Given that Derbyshire appeared such a solid bet for promotion only a month or so ago, you cannot blame Karl Krikken, their coach, for taking steps to soften the blow should his embryonic team be knocked out of the top two places right at the death.Krikken insisted on the eve of the final round of matches that “to actually be here now with a chance of promotion is magnificent” and he is right to be proud that the club most frequently associated with the wooden spoon have set the pace for much of the Division Two season.Yet after winning only one match since the end of May, Derbyshire were always vulnerable to a late surge from one of the chasing pack and Kent, whose win over Derbyshire last week followed victory at Leicester a week earlier, have emerged with a threat to wreck their happy ending. It is now, it can be argued, that they need to dismiss the notion of remembering the season for a gallant near-miss and find a steely resolve.It will be needed, surely, on day two of this contest, which will resume with Derbyshire in trouble at 50 for 3 after a nervous 18 overs with the bat rather took the gloss off what had been a decent day’s work with the ball.Despite a partnership of 136 for the fifth wicket between James Vince (114) and Sean Ervine, Derbyshire restricted Hampshire to 272, claiming maximum bowling points in doing so. Given that the opening day at Cardiff did not go well for Kent, it may be that a draw for Derbyshire will be enough to clinch their elevation to Division One but even that will take some work to achieve. Hampshire, the Twenty20 champions and potential double-winners in white ball cricket, have underachieved in the four-day competition and that makes them a dangerous opponent.Indeed, they may consider that their opening-day performance here was not as satisfactory as it might have been. Well though they batted after Derbyshire, who won the toss, had opted to bowl first on a well-grassed pitch, both Vince and Ervine to some extent gave their wickets away. Ervine certainly did, attempting needlessly to reverse sweep David Wainwright, the left-arm spinner, and departing somewhat red-faced after he was bowled behind his legs.Vince had hit the ball handsomely at times, his confidence growing as did his boundary count, and given that he has had a lean season in the Championship, in and out of the side and without a half-century before this match, he deserved the congratulations that came his way. Yet the ball that did for him was a wide half-volley from Ross Whiteley that he slapped straight to extra-cover.Derbyshire had made the start they wanted. Tony Palladino, the former Essex seamer whose experience has been one of the counters to the youth that has been given its head under Krikken’s stewardship, delivered a fine spell with the new ball in which he did not concede a run until his fourth over and at one point had figures of 6.5-4-9-3 as Hampshire lost their first three wickets for 26.He bowled Michael Carberry off an inside edge, had Bilal Shafayat, pushing forward, caught at third slip and nipped one back to pin Liam Dawson leg-before as he played back. When Jimmy Adams, who has a technique good enough to earn a mention at least in connection with England’s top-order vacancy, fell for 20 as Whiteley found some late away swing and Usman Khawaja took a fine catch at second slip, Hampshire were 59 for 4 and Derbyshire had every reason to feel pleased with themselves.The Vince-Ervine partnership tempered their mood somewhat, but there was a comeback. After Vince had gone, Chris Wood flicked a ball from Tim Groenewald obligingly to square leg, Michael Bates edged Wes Durston, the offspinner, to slip, David Griffiths was caught behind driving at Wainwright, who then had James Tomlinson leg before first ball to end on a hat-trick as the last three Hampshire wickets fell in the space of ten deliveries.On a surface that had good carry and offered no significant help to the bowlers, 272 may have been a shade under par, which would have given Derbyshire every reason to be optimistic if they could see off the new ball without too much damage.In the event, the came up against a couple of bowlers in David Balcombe and Tomlinson who put them under immediate pressure and were duly rewarded. Wayne Madsen, trying to fend a ball from Tomlinson that climbed on him, gloved a catch to wicketkeeper Bates, while Paul Borrington edged one high off the bat to gully, where Carberry took a good catch diving forward. Durston then edged Wood tentatively to second slip. Much now depends on Khawaja.

Round-up of the first day of the Duleep Trophy semi-finals

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Oct-2012
ScorecardYuvraj Singh slammed an unbeaten 133 off 152 deliveries•AFP

In his first first-class innings since being treated for cancer, Yuvraj Singh smashed an unbeaten 133 as he set about showing he still had the fitness to play the long form of the game. His century and a 121 from opener Shikhar Dhawan pushed North Zone to a strong 346 for 4 against Central Zone in Hyderabad.On the eve of the match he had been unsure whether he could handle the rigour of the first-class game. “This is my first duration game (after the illness), so I don’t know how my body will behave,” Yuvraj had said. “I know my body will get tired, but I need to get through the four days.”Yuvraj hasn’t played a first-class match since the Kolkata Test against West Indies last November. While recovering from cancer, he had said he initially wanted to play T20 cricket, before testing himself in one-dayers and first-class matches as they were tougher on his body. His comeback began with the T20s against New Zealand last month, before he played the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka.Yuvraj’s performance overshadowed Dhawan, who hit his sixth successive 50-plus score – including three centuries. The pair scored at a T20 rate, putting on 160 for the third wicket in 122 deliveries against an attack that included the experienced left-arm spinner Murali Kartik and India medium-pacer Praveen Kumar.After a sedate start, seamer Rituraj Singh dismissed opener Rahul Dewan for 17, but wicketkeeper Nitin Saini stuck with Dhawan for a stand of 75. After Saini was dismissed in the 53rd over, Yuvraj arrived to boost the scoring rate. At tea, the pair had put on 111 runs off 62 deliveries. The partnership ended when Dhawan was caught and bowled by Kartik in the 73rd over. Mandeep Singh was dismissed soon after but Dogra stuck with Yuvraj for 16.2 overs to prevent any further damage till stumps.Yuvraj, who played only 152 deliveries for his unbeaten knock, smashed 20 fours and two sixes, both over deep mid-wicket and off Kartik. The second six brought up his century.Kartik was happy for Yuvraj after the match. He tweeted: “Fabulous knock by [Yuvraj] so happy to see him in such imperious form..:hope all the detractors are happy now.”
ScorecardAt Visakhapatnam, East Zone had a completely different start to their semi-final, collapsing to 66 for 6 against South Zone before Saurabh Tiwary and Basant Mohanty put on an unbroken 121-run stand to prevent more embarrassment.After a delay of 45 minutes due to rain, South Zone took charge grabbing their first wicket in the third over. Within the 13th over, East Zone had lost their first four batsmen for 21. Tiwary, playing his first major match since the IPL, then resisted for 67.2 overs, and kept the attack at bay with the help of No. 8 Mohanty. No other East Zone batsman made more than 11 runs.Seamers Abhimanyu Mithun and Stuart Binny took two wickets apiece. Binny took both his wickets in one over when East Zone captain Nataraj Behera and Anustup Majumdar were both dismissed in the 13th over.

Going into the Australia-South Africa Test series, Ricky Ponting hopes his side realises how little difference there is between the teams

Brydon Coverdale in Brisbane07-Nov-2012In early 2009, Ricky Ponting presided over an Australian tour of South Africa when Graeme Smith’s men were favourites. Australia were clinging to the No. 1 Test ranking they had held for six years, but South Africa would take it if they won the series. Ponting’s side completed an impressive away-series victory and stayed at the top for a few more months, until their Ashes debacle. They haven’t returned to No. 1 since. Over the next few weeks, under Michael Clarke’s leadership, they can.This time it’s the South Africans who are No. 1 in the world. The top spot is theirs to lose. Again, Smith’s team is the favourite ahead of this series. Their record away from home is strong, but it’s extremely unusual for Australia to enter a home Test series as the underdogs. But having kept up with South Africa over the past three series – the teams are locked together 4-4 in the past four years – Ponting wants his team-mates to realise how little difference there is between the sides.”I don’t think there’s anything negative at all about being an underdog going into a series,” Ponting said in Brisbane ahead of the first Test. “South Africa are deservedly the No. 1 team in the world. But I think the gap between them and us is not that great. When we were No. 1 we knew we had everyone chasing us. South Africa are certainly going to know over the next few weeks that they’ve got a very good cricket team chasing them and trying to take that No. 1 mantle away.”When Ponting was in charge during the golden era of Australian cricket, crushing sides was their modus operandi, clean-sweeps often a formality. It has been a very different story for the South Africans, who are in their second period at No. 1, having originally reached the pinnacle in mid-2009.The last time South Africa won consecutive Tests in a series was in Perth and Melbourne in 2008. They haven’t won any two successive Tests out of their past 20, a time during which they have played New Zealand, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Pakistan, India, Australia and England. By comparison, Australia have won eight of their past ten Tests, having risen from the nadir of the 2009-10 Ashes.”I don’t know what makes them tick, I don’t know what makes them worried about big occasions in games,” Ponting said. “All I know is that when we’ve played our best for long periods of time against South Africa we’ve managed to have a lot of success. We know what it is that makes us play our best cricket. We know what makes us achieve great results. We just have to do those things better than South Africa do for five days.”The series is being billed as a battle between two strong pace attacks, but that in itself means it is also a matter of which batting line-up handles the speed and movement the best. If AB de Villiers takes the wicketkeeping gloves, South Africa will have a long batting order, with JP Duminy likely to come in at No. 7. But Ponting does not believe they will offer any more of a threat than the Indian batsmen did last summer, when Australia took the series 4-0.”The attack that we put out last year will be very similar to what we go out with tomorrow in our conditions and conditions that we know very well,” he said. “All the guys, Siddle and Pattinson especially, have got a lot of first-class cricket under their belt and have taken a lot of wickets at the start of the summer. We have to know that the way we bowled and the way we played last year was somewhere near our best and if we produce that again, it doesn’t matter what batting line-up we’re bowling to, we’ll take 20 wickets in a Test match.”We’ve got some areas for their batsmen that we’re going to target. Our young quicks are dying to get out there and have a crack at some of their top-order players. You can expect some fireworks. Some of their top order can expect a lot of short balls as well, that’s an area that we think we can really attack them.”Not that they will be alone in doing so. Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander, all in the top 10 ICC Test bowling rankings, are all perfectly capable of extracting the same bounce from the Australian pitches, especially the seam-friendly Gabba and WACA surfaces. The good news for the Australians is that they have at least handled Morkel well in the past; his 23 wickets at 38.21 against Australia is vastly inferior to his overall record.”I think we’ve played him well in the past,” Ponting said of Morkel. “When you’re that tall and you bang the ball into the wicket you tend to get more bounce than the shorter fast bowlers do. I think that’s his great weapon. We’ve had a look at what he’s done over the last few series… if anything he’s managed to bowl a little bit fuller the last few years than he did before that, which has probably enabled him to have more success.”But Morkel is just one part of a strong attack. Handling Steyn and Philander could be even tougher. If Australia can do so, they’ll be well on the way to reclaiming that No. 1 position.

Mark Ramprakash will return to Middlesex as the county’s batting coach, 12 years after crossing the river as a player to join Surrey

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Dec-2012Mark Ramprakash will return to Middlesex as the county’s batting coach, 12 years after crossing the river as a player to join Surrey. Ramprakash, 43, retired last season after a 25-year playing career, in which he made more than 50,000 runs and scored 131 centuries.Ramprakash has agreed a two-year contract and replaces Mark O’Neill who will be returning to Australia on a permanent basis after three years looking after Middlesex’s batsmen. Since his retirement, Ramprakash had been working with England’s Performance Programme, assisting Graham Gooch and Graham Thorpe on the tour of India.A classy middle-order batsman who came through the system at Middlesex, Ramprakash will now bring his wealth of experience to bear on the next generation at Lord’s. Despite a largely unfulfilled 52-Test career for England, he was the last batsman to reach the landmark of 100 first-class hundreds and finished with an average of 53.14.”I am delighted to have been invited back to Middlesex to take up a coaching role at the club,” Ramprakash said. “It is a club I grew up watching and where I had 14 enjoyable seasons as a player.””Middlesex is the club that gave me the chance to achieve what I have in cricket and I am delighted to be able to return to work with and help the current and next generation of Middlesex cricketers. I am excited by the talent in the current crop of players and look forward to contributing to the club.”Angus Fraser, Middlesex’s director of cricket, was particularly pleased to be reunited with Ramprakash, whom he played alongside both for club and country. “I am thrilled to have Mark back at Middlesex,” Fraser said. “It is my job to provide Middlesex’s cricketers with the best possible coaching, support and advice available and in Mark Ramprakash they have that.”His record speaks for itself, and in the past 25 years there has not been a better batsman in county cricket. During 1,221 innings Mark has experienced almost everything it is possible for a batsman to experience and the knowledge that he can pass on to our cricketers is unsurpassable. As a professional cricketer his attention to detail and work ethic were second to none. Though naturally gifted it was not good fortune that allowed him to score more than 50,000 professional runs. A love of cricket, fierce desire and hard work were the cocktail of ingredients.””Mark moved from Middlesex to Surrey in 2000, but I never felt his heart left the club. He has always lived in the county and played cricket for Stanmore Cricket Club when commitments permitted.”It is Mark’s love of the art of batting that makes me believe he will become an outstanding coach. He loves talking batting and Middlesex’s cricketers have a huge resource to tap in to. I believe he is the best man for the job and we are extremely fortunate to have a cricketer of his character and pedigree working at this club.”

Services stunned UP, beating them by five wickets, to enter the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy 2012-13

The Report by Abhishek Purohit in Indore08-Jan-2013
ScorecardServices captain Soumik Chatterjee won the match batting bravely with an injured leg•Dainik Dabang Dunia

Soumik Chatterjee, the Services captain, unable to walk with a badly injured left knee, dragged himself out at 54 for 5 in a chase of 113. He went on to pull the rampaging Uttar Pradesh fast bowlers for fours and sixes. He hopped on one good leg from one end of the pitch to the other for several singles. Fittingly, he stepped out to loft Ali Murtaza over mid-on to end the match. Uttar Pradesh, the best side of the Ranji league stage, had been beaten by the promoted toppers from a humble Group C before tea on the third afternoon of the five-day quarter-final.While Chatterjee’s brave effort made him the star of the chase, fast bowler Suraj Yadav, with a career-best haul of 7 for 71 in UP’s second innings, and Rajat Paliwal, with a century in Services’ first innings and an unbeaten 32 in the chase, were the chief architects of the win.For UP, they will look back to the moment early this morning when their last specialist batsman Arish Alam, backing up at the non-striker’s end, was caught short of the crease by an Eklavya Dwivedi drive that burst out through the bowler Yadav’s hands. Alam and Dwivedi had batted without bother till then, and had already added 33 for the day in just under seven overs.Alam had just reached his 50, and his fall took most of the fight out of UP. Dwivedi was trapped leg-before next over by Nishan Singh. Piyush Chawla flailed a pitched-up delivery straight to first slip, exactly the same way he had fallen in the first innings. During his short stay, he had already been caught in the same manner, off a Yadav no-ball.Strongly-built fast bowler Imtiaz Ahmed fought back, like he had in the first innings, with calm hitting that would have done a specialist batsman proud. Even as Services posted eight men on the boundary, Imtiaz nonchalantly swung four sixes over them.He also started to protect the No. 11 Sudeep Tyagi, but Yadav needed just the one delivery in the 78th over to flatten Tyagi’s off stump.Services needed just 113, but Ankit Rajpoot, the young UP fast bowler, was to make it really hard for them. After Nakul Verma started brightly with a few fours, Rajpoot started striking. Soon after lunch, Services slumped from 29 for 0 in the eighth over to 54 for 5 in the 14th.Verma was caught at gully after a slash was fended away by one of the slips, Avishek Sinha was bowled trying to work it to leg, Soumya Swain hit it low to gully, Yashpal Singh went lbw first ball pushing forward, and Anshul Gupta lost his off stump on the defensive push.Services, full of spirit and bravado but lacking in big-match experience, were still 59 short. In walked Chatterjee, and slowly, the game swung again Services’ way. He would wait a bit till he was certain he could make it across for a single, and then drag, limp and hop his way along. He would push his fit right leg forward, cover the line of the delivery, and defend it if it was on the stumps, or let it go by holding the bat inside the line.Paliwal, solid at the other end, steered Imtiaz over the cordon for four to ease some of the pressure. Chatterjee summoned enough strength to pull Rajpoot over square leg for four on one leg. He bettered it by pulling Tyagi for six, and Paliwal slog-swept Chawla in his only over for six over deep midwicket. The hundred or so spectators cheered every Services run, as did their dressing room. About an hour after he had slowly made his way to the middle, Chatterjee was holding his arms out to his rushing team-mates. UP had been unbeaten through the league stage, and it had taken something special from an injured captain to bring them down.

A few weeks after leading England to an historic series win, Alastair Cook and his team are heading back to India for the demands of a one-day series

Nagraj Gollapudi02-Jan-2013There is no need to ask Alastair Cook what his New Year’s resolution is. As he walked with a relaxed stride on Wednesday evening to board the flight to India, to lead England in the one-day series, he only had victory on his mind. And nothing was going to betray his confidence.You can remind him about India being the defending world champions in the 50-over format. You can remind him about the 5-0 annihilation MS Dhoni’s men inflicted on England in late 2011, not to mention the same in 2008 and the 6-1 drubbing in 2005-06. But Cook can equally shoot back out about the historic triumph against India in the Test leg, which allowed the England players to celebrate a lovely Christmas at home. And without being combative, he could at the same time remind you that England, and not India, are the No.1 on the ODI rankings.Of course, Cook did not say any of those things at the team departure press conference. What he did say, though, was the one-day players will do well to adopt a similar approach and work ethic as practiced by the Test squad: adapt, work hard and enjoy.”We can definitely take some confidence as a batting unit, especially the way we handled their spinners after that first innings in Ahmedabad. We have got to do something like that once again in the ODIs if we want to win.”Yet Cook is aware of the challenge awaiting his team. Missing from the first-choice ODI squad are the trio of James Anderson, Graeme Swann and Jonathan Trott ,who have been allowed to rest as part of the selectors’ plan to keep England squads competitive at all times across all formats, along with Jonny Bairstow who is on compassionate leave.”Every time you start the tour it is a huge challenge,” Cook said. “I sat here two-and-half months ago saying to win a Test series in India would be an amazing experience and to do that was a great effort by the whole squad. India in their backyard in one-day cricket is again a huge challenge for us. We lost 5-0 last time, so it will be a good measure of us as a side to see how we have improved. But again we have got a squad that is capable of doing something special.”England have done special things in the last few years but one of the key driving forces, Andy Flower, the team director, will be absent this time India. Flower and the ECB recently agreed that he had to achieve a “realistic and sustainable work-life balance”, he had to take frequent breaks. Under Flower, since May 2007, England’s ODI record win-loss record was 60-52 in 120 matches. In 2012 England won 12 ODIs and lost two with series wins against Pakistan (4-0 in UAE), Australia (4-0 at home) and West Indies (2-0 at home).To try and help ensure a smooth transition as Flower steps aside from the one-day squad, the ECB the former England left-arm spinner and current selector Ashley Giles. Asked if the relationship with Giles, with whom he has never worked in a similar manner before, would be hard to establish, Cook disagreed.He said Giles was an important influence when he entered the England dressing room for the first time in 2006. According to Cook, Giles was the facilitator, acting as the channel between the players and Duncan Fletcher, the then England coach.”He was a senior citizen of the side when I went to Pakistan. He was kind of called the dad in one way,” he said. “He was that gel in the middle of the team, always looking after players. He was the bridge between Duncan Fletcher and some of the players and I see him carrying along that kind of relationship with the players now as a coach.”Flower, Cook maintains, remains the “boss” and is just a “telephone call” away in case of any emergency. But that did not mean they would have to wait for him to take every call as it was the responsibility of him and Giles to take forward the ODI team. The key in making sure this new coaching set-up runs smoothly is to communicate openly and clearly.”It is an unknown territory and we haven’t done it before,” Cook said. “But it is a bit like the three captains. It was new, it was fresh and I thought it worked really well because of the energy those three captains brought to each different side. And I can see this having the same effect on the coaching side with Test and ODIs being split. We all will have to work hard on the relationship and we all are going to have to communicate really well to do it. But as we get used to it, the relationship will improve.”Neither does Cook want comparisons drawn between Giles and Flower. “Of course, they are going to be different because they are different characters, they are different people. What is important is all three of us work together and have a strong relationship because you do need a strong leadership. Gilo will have to get used to me as a captain and I’ll have to get used to him as a coach just like I Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss did.”Like any good forward-thinking leader, Cook did not waste time and has taken the initiative to meet Giles a “few times”, to make sure both men get acquainted to each other’s styles and thoughts quickly. The next few weeks will not define the partnership, but it will lay down some early markers.

A day after India and Pakistan met to decide who would finish last in the tournament, another traditional rivalry, between Australia and England, will kick off the Super Six stage

Abhishek Purohit in Mumbai07-Feb-2013A day after India and Pakistan met to decide who would finish last in the tournament, another traditional rivalry, between Australia and England, will kick off the Super Six stage. Brabourne Stadium is miles away from Lord’s or the SCG, but as England allrounder Arran Brindle put it, regardless of the venue, “a game against Australia means a huge amount to both teams.”While most of the spotlight was on Group A, which had the defending champions England, hosts India, exciting West Indies and surprise package Sri Lanka, Australia quietly racked up three wins out of three in Group B in Cuttack. They are the only side to have carried the maximum possible four points into the Super Six stage. If anything, they have only upped their level over the past week, as have England following the shock last-ball defeat to Sri Lanka. In Australia’s final group game, against New Zealand, they chased down 228 with more than 11 overs and seven wickets to spare.”I think we have actually been able to improve over those three games,” Lisa Sthalekar, the Australia allrounder, said. “The first two games [v Pakistan and v South Africa] were against an opposition we weren’t familiar with. We were faced with some difficult situations but we were able to get through and then the last game against the Kiwis we finally came out with the type of game we wanted to play in this tournament.”That was in Cuttack, though, on the eastern part of India. On the western seafront in Mumbai, Sthalekar said conditions were different. “In Cuttack there wasn’t a lot of turn. The wicket was two-paced and had variable bounce, especially the game against South Africa. The wicket that we played against New Zealand was truer and that reflected in the scores.”Here, what we had been able to see over the televised matches and in our warm-ups, there’s a bit of turn that excites me as a spinner. The fast outfield and the warm-ups that we played here have given us a good insight as to what the wicket will hold.”England have played two of their three group games at Brabourne Stadium and Sthalekar admitted that gave them a slight advantage. “They have played three more matches to get an idea of the pitch and the conditions. It depends on what wicket you were on and how many times that has been played. But I still feel that our match – the warm-up – was a good enough preparation. We just trained out there which is similar conditions so the girls are getting a good grip and understanding of the wicket. They might have a slight advantage but we are coming here fresh as well, so they might be a bit over the scenery.”Brindle said England now knew the lines and lengths they needed to bowl at Brabourne Stadium and felt the surprise loss to Sri Lanka in their opening game had been an early wake-up call. “As soon as you lose a game in any competition it makes you re-evaluate and fine-tune every part,” Brindle said. “We have done that in the last two games. We are looking to carry that into the Super Six. I think you sometimes learn more in defeat than you do when you go on winning every game.”We have played the last few games with the pressure of having had to win those games. If we perform like we have had, we’ll be a tough side to beat.”England are yet to beat Australia in an ODI at a neutral venue, following 13 defeats and a tie. The previous time the two sides met on neutral territory, in October 2012 in Colombo, Australia won the Women’s World Twenty20 final by four runs.

Mumbai Indians have appointed former Australia captain Ricky Ponting as their captain for the sixth edition of IPL

Amol Karhadkar21-Feb-2013Mumbai Indians have appointed former Australia captain Ricky Ponting as their captain for the sixth edition of IPL, which starts from April 3.Ponting, who retired from international cricket at the end of 2012, was bought at the base price of $400,000 during the player auction earlier this month. Despite the buzz circulating around Sachin Tendulkar to be re-appointed as the captain ahead of the auction, the new Mumbai think-tank of mentor Anil Kumble and coach John Wright have zeroed-in on Ponting to lead the side.Mumbai explained the change of heart through a media statement. “Ricky has a lot of experience to lead a competitive and a high-profile side like Mumbai Indians in the IPL,” Kumble said. “Sachin readily agreed to my suggestion that Mumbai Indians is best served when he leads the batting unburdened by the rigours of captaincy. It was our idea (Sachin and mine) to bring in Ricky as the captain of the Mumbai Indians.”However, Mumbai’s tactics of creating a buzz around Tendulkar to be re-instated as the captain were termed as an “eyewash” ahead of the auction. “Mumbai Indians were not the only team who were interested in Ponting at the auction. So just to take the attention away from the former Australia captain, it seems they would have adopted the strategy of floating Tendulkar’s name as the captain [on the eve of the auction],” an official from another franchise said.Ponting, however, was looking forward to the new responsibility. “It’s a huge honour and I thank Mrs [Nita] Ambani and the Mumbai Indians management for the faith they have reposed in my abilities. Mumbai Indians has the potent combination of Indian and international cricketers and I look forward to leading the team to play to its full potential,” said Ponting, who made a brief appearance for Kolkata Knight Riders in the inaugural IPL edition in 2008.The owners of the Mumbai franchise, IndiaWin Sports Pvt Ltd – a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd – were delighted to have Tendulkar and Ponting as a potential opening partnership. “On behalf of the Mumbai Indians family, I welcome Ricky Ponting to the team as the leader of the side,” said Nita Ambani. “Today we have world’s two biggest cricketing greats in Sachin and Ricky, and I am sure the duo will be an inspiration for the youngsters in the team. Sachin will always be an integral and important part of Mumbai Indians’ leadership. Ricky will bring in fresh perspective in the team leadership and will have the support of the best cricketing minds like Sachin, Anil and John Wright.”