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In a chat with R Ashwin, Kohli said the process was one of ‘earning trust’ over several years

ESPNcricinfo staff30-May-20202:08

‘I was always in Dhoni’s ear’ – Kohli

Virat Kohli has credited MS Dhoni with playing a significant role in anointing him as his successor as India captain.Kohli took over as the full-time Test captain when Dhoni retired from the format midway through India’s tour of Australia in 2014-15, and later became captain across formats when Dhoni quit his limited-overs post in early 2017.Kohli said the process was a gradual one of “earning trust” over several years.”I was always inclined towards taking responsibility,” Kohli said of his early days in the India dressing room, while speaking to his team-mate R Ashwin on his Instagram Live show . “After that it was all about just wanting to play, wanting to be in the XI regularly. I didn’t play all the games, but I wanted to be discussed, that ‘whether this guy is good enough to play or not.’ That is a transition that slowly happens.”Then with your interest in the game you start talking to the captain regularly. I was always in MS’s ear, standing next to him, saying, ‘We can do this, we can do that.’ He would deny a lot of things but he would discuss a lot of things as well. I think he got a lot of confidence that I can do this after him.”A large portion of me becoming captain was also to do with him observing me for a long period of time. It can’t just happen that he goes and the selectors say, ‘Okay you become captain.’ Obviously the guy who is there takes responsibility and says, ‘Okay I think this is the next guy. I will tell you how it is going.’ And then slowly that transition is formed. He played a big role in that, and that trust you have to build over six-seven years. It doesn’t happen overnight, it’s a process.”Kohli was first appointed vice-captain for the 2012 Asia Cup, which followed India’s tour of Australia for a Test series and a tri-series in 2011-12. In a tour that otherwise went poorly for India, who were blanked 4-0 in the Tests and failed to reach the tri-series final, Kohli emerged with distinction. He scored his maiden Test century in the fourth match in Adelaide, becoming the only India batsman to reach three figures in that series. In the ODIs, he made his then highest score in the format , smashing 133* off just 86 balls as India chased down a target of 321 in 36.4 overs to keep their hopes of making the final alive.The relationship between Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni solidified over time•Associated Press

Kohli said that tour helped him become aware of his game and hone it significantly. “I remember that whole season,” he said. “It was from that Test hundred in Adelaide to continuously stringing scores. That was a phase of six to eight months where I really realised a lot about my own game and came into my own as far as my skills were concerned.”I was very competitive but I wasn’t very sure or in control of what I wanted to do before. When you come in new, you’re still figuring out how to go about it. At the international stage you want to be feared, you want to be respected. You don’t want to walk in and hear, ‘He’s one of the youngsters, we’ll just knock him over.’ We all play for that. That was a phase where I started to realise this.”In the Asia Cup that followed, Kohli made 183 in another tall chase, against Pakistan. He revealed that during this knock, he had negated the threat posed by Saeed Ajmal by treating the offspinner as if he were a legspinner.”I told myself I’m going to start playing him like a legspinner,” Kohli said. “Because his was quite difficult to face and his offspinner was not that lethal. So I said I’m going to try and hit him over cover consistently, and it just paid off. As soon as I negated his , the potency of his threat became lesser and lesser.”In that game I scored most of my runs against him through the off side [29 runs on the off side and 7 on the leg side]. My only aim was I’m going to make him unsettled with his . He should fear bowling the doosra to me, then I’m on top of my game.”

Pucovski, the captain of the Cricket Australia XI, was facing the England Lions on the Gold Coast and was later subbed out of the match

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Feb-2020Will Pucovski has suffered another concussion after stumbling while taking a run playing for the Cricket Australia XI against England Lions at Metricon Stadium.The incident, which took place on Pucovski’s 22nd birthday, occurred when his bat got stuck in the turf as he went for a quick single. He was helped from the ground and retired hurt, later failing a concussion test, and was subbed out of the match. Medical staff will continue to monitor Pucovski, who was named captain for the three one-day matches, over the coming days.Pucovski’s career has been impacted by a number of concussion issues, stemming from a blow he took while playing football at school, which led to him needing to take six months away from sport. He has been struck in a variety of ways including from a wild throw, while batting at training, and from hitting his head on a door at home.One of the concussions he suffered also came on his 19th birthday in 2017 when he was making his first-class debut for Victoria and was struck on the head in the field when a delivery jumped off the outfield. He missed the rest of the season and at the start of the following summer was again struck, this time while batting in the one-day competition, and suffered delayed symptoms then in March 2018 was hit during another Sheffield Shield match.Earlier this season, Pucovski was close to making his Test debut against Pakistan before withdrawing from contention during the Australia A match in Perth for mental health reasons. He returned to play for Victoria in late November and during the Big Bash has been turning out in club cricket and leading the Victoria 2nd XI.The opening one-day match went the way of England Lions as Sam Hain struck an unbeaten 122 and added 154 for the fourth wicket with Laurie Evans (94) after the Lions had slipped to 3 for 32 in their chase. Dan Lawrence helped seal the win with an unbeaten 50 off 40 balls.Earlier, the Queensland and Brisbane Heat batsman Max Bryant had slammed 102 off 60 balls in a power-packed start to the match as he dominated the Lions attack. The score was 127 when Bryant fell to legspinner Mason Crane in the 18th over and a short while later Pucovski was forced to retire hurt. The Lions hauled the innings back impressively to restrict the CA XI to 8 for 281 as the spinners, Crane and Lawerence, went for just 79 in their 20 overs

‘He is the absolute personification of what a professional sportsman should aspire to be’ – Somerset director of cricket

ECB Reporters Network27-Jun-2019Marcus Trescothick is to retire from professional cricket in September after 27 seasons as a Somerset player.The 43-year-old former England opener has announced his decision following a disappointing start to the current County Championship campaign, which saw him left out of the team after scoring 88 runs in eight innings. But Trescothick remains available for selection and would like nothing more than to crown his illustrious career by helping leaders Somerset to a maiden Championship title.”It has been an incredible 27 years and I’ve loved every minute of it,” Trescothick said. “However, everything has to come to an end eventually.”I’ve been discussing my future with the club and my family for a while and we felt that now was the appropriate time to make this announcement in order for the club and I to put plans in place.”There’s still a lot of the season left and I’ll be doing everything I can to put in performances for the second XI in order to force my way back into contention for the first team.”Marcus Trescothick bats as another season draws to a close•Getty Images

Since making his debut in 1993, Keynsham-born Trescothick has proved himself one of the best players the county has ever produced, breaking numerous records and playing in 76 Test matches and 123 one-day internationals for England.Those numbers would be even greater, but for the stress-related illness that led to him returning home from an Ashes tour in 2006 and announcing his retirement from international cricket in March 2008.A legend with Somerset supporters and, with a stand named after him at his beloved County Ground in Taunton, Trescothick can leave the stage assured of a place in the club’s history books alongside the great Harold Gimblett.While Gimblett will retain his record as having scored the most first-class runs for Somerset, Trescothick boasts the most first-class centuries, with 52, and the most List A runs, with 7,374.In first-class cricket, he has scored 19,654 runs for the county, at an average of 41.11, and holds the record for the number of catches with 445.
His international career began with a one-day international against Zimbabwe in 2000 and he went on to score 5,825 Test runs at an average of 43.79, along with 4,335 one-day runs for England at 37.37.As a member of the 2005 Ashes-winning team, he was awarded the MBE. He played in the 2003 World Cup and established himself as one of the most feared opening batsmen in the game.Named Somerset captain in 2010, having helped the club win the 2001 C&G Trophy and the 2005 Twenty20 Cup, Trescothick led the team for the next six seasons.Announcing his forthcoming retirement, he said: “The club, the members and the supporters mean so much to me. There are so many memories that I will cherish forever and Somerset will always hold a truly special place in my heart.”Twenty seven years is a long time, but it’s gone incredibly quickly. I consider myself very fortunate to have had the opportunity to do something that I love for that length of time and I’m extremely grateful for all the support that I’ve received throughout this remarkable journey.”Somerset director of cricket, Andy Hurry said: “Marcus Trescothick is one of the finest players that this country has ever produced and his record on the field of play speaks for itself.”His passion and enthusiasm for the game of cricket is infectious, and his work ethic is phenomenal. He is the absolute personification of what a professional sportsman should aspire to be.”Whilst his playing record is there for all to see, what you can’t measure is the positive influence that he has behind the scenes. He leads by example in everything that he does, and the way that he goes about his business is second to none.”Trescothick plans a future in coaching and media work. He is a Mental Health Ambassador for the Professional Cricketers Association and has taken a leading role in helping fellow players fight the sort of illness which cut short his international career.

Tom Curran starred with the ball while Jordan Silk and Moises Henriques helped Sixers start 2019 on a winning note

The Report by Alex Malcolm01-Jan-2019Moises Henriques and Jordan Silk have delivered the Sydney Sixers the perfect start to the New Year executing a brilliantly timed chase to ensure Brisbane Heat remain winless.The pair came together with the Sixers needing 84 from 51 balls. Henriques made an outstanding 57 from 37 balls before falling with 44 still needed from 23. But Silk and Josh Philippe ran the Heat ragged and maneuvred the ball to the vacant boundaries behind square with extraordinary skill. Silk fell for 46 from 25 balls with just six runs to win but Tom Curran finished the job.Earlier, Chris Lynn held together the Heat’s batting with a powerful 84. Youngster Max Bryant made an electric start in the Powerplay but he and Lynn were the only players in the Heat’s top six to reach double figures. At one stage they were targeting a total of 150 but Lynn and Jimmy Peirson finished the innings superbly to set the Sixers 165 to win, but it still wasn’t enough.Bash Brothers’ new siblingThe Heat opted for a change at the top of the order, dropping Brendon McCullum down to No.4 and promoting Sam Heazlett to have a left-right combination. Heazlett only made 2 but he was involved in a 34-run opening stand from the first 2.5 overs as the newest Bash Brother bucked his head. Max Bryant, 19, had shown glimpses in the first two games and he exploded here. The Sixers opted for spin from both ends and Bryant showed Ben Manenti and Steve O’Keefe no respect. He was savage on O’Keefe, who has been untouchable in the Powerplay this season, clubbing three fours and a six in the second over. He showed smart footwork against the veteran finding the rope off both the front and the back foot. He failed to go with his start though, holing out to long on in the fourth over for 34 from just 18 balls.The lives of LynnLynn had gone 21 T20 innings with a fifty, including seven T20 Internationals late in 2018. That was set to be 22 when he hit a towering sky ball to deep midwicket on 13, but Manenti was strangely positioned in the key spot instead of Silk, and looking into the sun he spilt the opportunity. Lynn reached 19 off 20 balls with just one boundary before he unleashed on Manenti with a huge six over long on. But he had to reign it in again as he lost Joe Burns and Ben Cutting in quick succession. He played wisely picking the gaps and biding his time. He launched his second six to bring up his fifty in the 15thover. He then unfurled his trademarks strikes. He hit Sean Abbott 98m over midwicket and Tom Curran’s slower ball 93m over long on. He gave another life on 73, with Daniel Hughes unable to hold onto to a ball sliced over his head at backward point. It cost the Sixers another 11 runs before he was out for 84. Lynn got great support from Jimmy Peirson who made an excellent 23 off 17 balls to raise the total above 160.Avendano air walkThe Sixers finally made a change at the top of the order dropping Jack Edwards and promoting 25-year-old North Sydney batsman Justin Avendano. It was an inspired move. Avendano struck two huge sixes and a boundary and the Sixers only lost one wicket in the Powerplay. Henriques joined the debutant after the fall of Joe Denly and the pair steadily built, never letting the required run-rate climb above 10 an over. But Avendano had a brain snap in the 11thover. After squeezing out a yorker to short third man, he was called through for a single. Ben Cutting threw at the non-striker’s end and hit but Avendano didn’t ground his bat and had his feet in the air. He would have made his ground easily if he had simply grounded his bat. Daniel Hughes fell five balls later as the required rate climbed to 10.25.Silky finishHenriques and Silk didn’t panic. They faced just three dot balls in a 40-run partnership. Lynn had held back Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s last over, after he conceded just 18 from his first three, hoping to bowl to a new batsman. But Henriques and Silk forced Lynn’s hand in the 16thover. With Henriques set and ready to target the quicks, Silk gambled and slog swept Mujeeb for six and took 12 from the over. Henriques fell off the first ball of the 17th. But Silk and Josh Philippe never stuttered. They ran brilliantly to force fielding mistakes. Philippe played an incredible falling ramp shot to fine leg for four forcing a field change before Silk was able to pick the gap at deep square after the change had been made. Silk holed out from the last ball of the 19thbut had the presence of mind not to cross with Philippe so the set player was on strike for the start of the last. Philippe couldn’t find the boundary but Tom Curran did to get the Sixers home with three balls to spare.

After giving them an ultimatum to step down, Zimbabwe Cricket has sacked the entire coaching staff following an unsuccessful World Cup qualifier campaign

Firdose Moonda30-Mar-2018After giving them an ultimatum to step down by 3pm on Friday, Zimbabwe Cricket have sacked its entire coaching staff following an unsuccessful World Cup qualifier campaign. The captain Graeme Cremer was another high-profile casualty with reports in the Zimbabwean press suggesting Brendan Taylor will take over leadership of the team.In addition to the national coaching staff – head coach Heath Streak, batting coach Lance Klusener, bowling coach Douglas Hondo, fielding coach Walter Chawaguta, fitness coach Sean Bell and team analyst Stanley Chioza – all other coaching staff, including the Zimbabwe A coach Wayne James and Under-19 coach Stephen Mangongo have been booted out. Convener of selectors Tatenda Taibu has also stripped of his position.In an email sent to Streak on Thursday evening, Zimbabwe Cricket MD Faisal Hasnain wrote: “Further to our discussions, please give your technical staff (and yourself included) until 3pm tomorrow to formally resign. After which time the technical team can consider themselves dismissed and relieved of their duties with immediate effect.”Streak and his staff refused to resign, on the principle that they did not consider their overall work a failure – Zimbabwe’s ODI win-loss percentage under Streak was 37.5%, significantly more than the 22.6% Zimbabwe achieved between April 2014 and October 2016, when Streak took over – and decided to let the board make their decision.Streak conveyed his disappointment in a brief conversation with ESPNcricinfo. “For everything I have given Zimbabwe Cricket, as a former player and a coach, to be given an email with no full explanation or even the courtesy of a hearing is something I didn’t expect,” Streak said. “I understand that every coach’s tenure will come to an end, but we should at least have been given the chance to give our comments and ask some questions. I was looking to take the team to the World T20 in 2020.”Streak is the only one with alternative employment at the moment. He was appointed the Kolkata Knight Riders bowling coach for this year’s edition of the IPL.The mass purge is mostly a result of Zimbabwe missing out on the 2019 World Cup, after a three-run defeat to UAE in the final Super Six match, but will no doubt also be related to finances. Zimbabwe Cricket is muddling through another monetary crunch, only made worse by the fact that they will not be participating in the World Cup.ZC staff, including the players who were attempting to qualify for the World Cup, were only paid 40% of their salaries in February. But with Streak and Klusener accepting 40% of theirs, the squad was eventually paid in full for their work during the month. No salaries will be paid in March, as ZC looks to make up the deficit in salaries to the rest of its staff.

England’s outgoing bowling coach believes that Mark Wood can have a key part to play in the Test side despite another truncated season

George Dobell at Lord's05-Sep-2017Ottis Gibson believes Mark Wood remains the outstanding pace bowling prospect in England despite a disappointing display against South Africa.Gibson, who will leave his role as England seam bowling coach after the Lord’s Test to take up the job of head coach of South Africa, still feels Wood has the pace and skill to prove a success at international level if only his injury problems can be resolved.Wood, who made his return from injury on Tuesday when he was named in Durham’s Championship side for the game against Kent, claimed only one wicket in two Tests against South Africa and rarely generated the pace England hoped to see from him. It subsequently transpired he was struggling with a bruised left heel and he has not played for six weeks.”I really do think Mark Wood is the one,” Gibson said. “Obviously he’s had a horrendous time with injuries, but I went on a Lions tour with Mark about three years ago and saw him bowl pain free. And that’s when I said to Kevin Shine, the ECB’s lead fast bowling coach, that if we can keep him pain free he is our X factor bowler.”But he’s not been able to stay pain free and I still don’t think we’ve seen the best of him.”The other man Gibson mentioned as an exciting prospect was Olly Stone. The 23-year-old made a strong impression on T20 Finals Day by bowling at sharp pace – around 92 mph at times – and showing he had fully recovered from the injury problems that robbed him of a year of cricket. Stone damaged his anterior cruciate ligament during a wicket-taking celebration in June 2016 but played his first first-class game of the season last week.”I watched the T20 Blast this weekend and I saw Olly Stone,” Gibson said. “We knew of him before but he had a bad injury. So it was good to see him back on the field and it was really good to see him bowl 90mph on finals day.”He was quick through the air, he bowled a good yorker and he had some good slower balls as well, which shows he has a good understanding of what he’s trying to do.”While there were hopes Jamie Overton, another bowler of sharp pace, would return before the end of the season, it now seems he will be able to play just one game rendering his selection for the Ashes tour highly unlikely. There will be a Lions squad out in Australia at around the same time as the full Test squad, though, so it could be that Overton and Sussex’s George Garton, a left-arm fast bowler, find themselves involved in that. Gibson described England’s fast bowling stocks as “in great shape.”He admitted he had felt “a bit emotional” when taken for a farewell meal with the England management in London on Monday night and described the opportunity of working with James Anderson and Stuart Broad – the two highest Test wicket-takers in England’s history – as “unbelievable.””To work with the two best bowlers in terms of wickets taken in the history of England cricket is unbelievable,” he said. “Anderson is very skilful. He knows how to bowl an outswinger and then an inswinger without much of a change in his action.”He’s also open to new challenge. If I say go close to the stumps and bowl an inswinger or go wide of them and bowl and bowl an outswinger then he’s still curious about the game. If you’re curious, you continue to learn. He’s not a senior pro who is set in his ways and just wants to plod in drop it on a length. He still wants to develop new skills.”The way he looks after himself is a credit to him. He has had a very good summer and I know he feels he still has a few years left in him for England.”I have known Stuart Broad a long time. I played with him at Leicester. He saw how I operated then as a senior pro and I brought that to my coaching: make sure guys understand what they need to do to win matches with regards to tactical stuff and make sure they know what length to hit to ensure they are aiming for the top of off stump on this pitch.”As for his replacement, Gibson urged England not to be swayed by ‘big names.'”The new bowling coach needs to be open minded,” he said. “They need to bring a calmness. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a big name or a legend of the game.”

A round-up of the second day of Group A matches in the fourth round of the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Oct-2016

Group A

Deepak Hooda converted his third successive century into a mammoth 293 not out, his best score in first-class cricket, to flatten Punjab at Feroz Shah Kotla. The 21-year old Baroda captain’s maiden double-century included 25 fours and six sixes. He had resumed on 190 on the second day and batted through the rest of the innings to finish with a strike-rate of 82.76.Hooda could well have had his first triple-century – and the fourth of this season, there have only been four rounds – but Munaf Patel, having hung in for 57 minutes and 29 balls, contributing one run to the final-wicket stand of 31, fell on the last ball of the 140th over from Shubek Gill. Hooda’s 293 was the second-highest score in Baroda’s history.Baroda were dismissed for 529, with Sandeep Sharma taking 4 for 101. Punjab had 35 overs to last until stumps. They lost Jiwanjot Singh in the 10th over, but the other opener Manan Vohra ensured there were no further losses with an unbeaten 67.A first-innings lead of 100 became extremely handy for Bengal as 15 wickets fell on the second day in Dharamsala. Railways, who resumed their first innings on 37 for 4, were bowled out for 105 as seamer Ashok Dinda picked up 5 for 45 bowling 14 out of the 27.3 overs in the innings. It was his 19th five-for and second in as many matches. Seven of the Railways batsmen suffered single-digit scores and had it not been for their captain Karn Sharma’s 40 off 26 balls, they may not even have got a total above hundred.Bengal’s batsmen were a lot more sturdy with Wriddhiman Saha and captain Manoj Tiwary making 44 and 48 respectively to help build the lead to a considerable 308 by stumps. They only have one wicket standing though thanks to the Railways seamers Deepak Bansal and Karan Thakur, who picked up 3 for 40 and 3 for 39.N Jagadeesan became the first player from Tamil Nadu to score a century on debut in eight years as his team continued their run-scoring spree in Cuttack. He was unbeaten on 118 having faced 196 balls, with eight fours and two sixes. Madhya Pradesh had been flogged for 547 runs over the course of 174 overs with only seven wickets as compensation. This after they had dismissed both Tamil Nadu openers for ducks on the first day.The revival was led by Kaushik Gandhi, who having been on 71 overnight, completed his maiden first-class century. He finished with 157 off 368 balls with 24 fours. B Indrajith was one of only three wickets MP were able to take on the second day, but not before he had scored his third fifty-plus score in three innings.Proceedings were rather slow in the other match in Delhi, where Uttar Pradesh ground out 147 runs at a run-rate of 2.19 against Gujarat. One of the overnight batsmen Mohammad Saif scored 4 off 51 balls. The bulk of their runs came from the openers – Tanmay Srivastava made 45 off 148 balls while his partner Samarth Singh got to 50 off 101 balls to go with his 187 in his last innings. UP still trail by 200 runs. Gujarat’s batsmen deserve credit for that, not least their resilient 10th wicket pair. Chirag Gandhi (87) and Ishwar Chaudhary (13) got together when the score was 284 for 9 to took it to 347. UP fast bowler Imtiaz Ahmed picked up 5 for 73.

They may not have enjoyed the preparation they hoped for against spin bowling but England go into the first Test against India confident, composed and, most of all, united.

George Dobell13-Nov-2012They may not have enjoyed the preparation they hoped for against spin bowling and they may be without their only genuine fast bowler, but England go into the first Test of the series against India confident, composed and, most of all, united. It might have seemed barely possible a few weeks ago but, at this stage, Kevin Pietersen appears to have returned to the squad seamlessly.It is true that the real test of England’s team spirit is yet to come. That will come on hot afternoons when things do not go their way; when disappointment or frustration tests patience to the limit.But, going into the first Test in Ahmedabad on Thursday, England can feel satisfied with the progress they have made. As recently as September, the divisions within the squad appeared so deep that some predicted that Pietersen would never appear in international cricket again. And, whatever the rights and wrongs of the Pietersen affair – and most reasonable observers would accept that there was fault on both sides – the fact is that England are a stronger side for his inclusion.Indeed, such has been the success of Pietersen’s “reintegration” that Matt Prior, the England wicketkeeper, has said that the spirit within the squad has never been better. While Prior and his colleagues know that the next few weeks offer one of the sternest challenges to any cricketer, they at least go into their series feeling confident in their preparation and their unity.”We go into this Test match feeling fully prepared that we’ve covered every base,” Prior said. “We’ve had a very good and long preparation phase this time around. We have been able to hit a lot of balls and play a lot of cricket on these types of wickets. We have given ourselves the best chance. We have prepared as well as we can. It’s now down to performing on the pitch.”There are certain things that we do now in our net sessions and in our training and our thought processes that are very different to other England teams I’ve toured with. If you keep doing what you always did, you keep getting what you’ve always got. I think the records speak for themselves: how long it’s been since England last won out here.”So to come out here and win in that environment would be even better. All these little challenges lead to something that, if we could pull it off, would be a fantastic honour to be part of.”It may be tempting to dismiss Prior’s words as pre-series spin but they have a ring of truth. It has been noticeable that Pietersen has been more involved in on-field laughter and, off the pitch, that he has been working with other batsmen in the nets. His local knowledge and contacts have been utilised, too, by a squad of whom 10 have never toured India before. It is not a different Pietersen – a chastened, cowering Pietersen – but the same confident man as before; just one who now fully understands his role within the squad.”We wouldn’t want KP to change too much because it is how he is that makes him special as a player,” Prior said. “If Kev suddenly came as this shy, introverted character I would be more worried. I want him to go out and express himself. I’m glad he’s come back the same KP as he was. The important thing is this group all pulling together in the right direction and Kev, the character that he is, pulling with us makes us a far stronger team and that is happening right now.”Kevin is in our team and in our squad. It is as good as it has been since I’ve been in this England side.”Prior is one of the few to emerge from the Pietersen debacle with his reputation enhanced. It was Prior who attempted to break the deadlock by phoning Pietersen and initiating a frank but constructive conversation and, over recent months, he has grown into the role of a key leadership figure in the England set-up.”I like that role,” Prior said. “I genuinely believe that it’s the team in big situations that win you games and get you out of holes. It’s about 11 blokes pulling in the same direction rather than one or two or three individuals. Obviously individual performances always help. But it’s the group that is stronger than anything. That is why I feel so strongly about the team pulling together.”The loss of Steven Finn is substantial. He is developing into a hostile and skilful fast bowler and, in practise on Sunday, bowled with such pace that Richard Halsall, the England assistant coach who was keeping wicket, described the experience as “genuinely quite scary”. But, reasoning that it would be unwise to go into a Test with two bowlers under something of an injury cloud, England have decided to go with Stuart Broad.”It’s a setback,” Prior said. “I’m sure the coach and captain would want to choose from every player who’s out here but we have lot of strength in depth in the squad. It’s one thing that’s made our squad so strong over the last couple of years.”The key to the series may well prove to be how England deal with the Indian spinners. And, perhaps, how they deal with the scars of the series against Pakistan in the UAE when all their”That series is always in the back of your mind,” Prior admitted. “But, as an international sportsman, you have to be pretty thick skinned and able to move on. I hope we learn from our experiences and mistakes and take them forward into these Test matches.”I think it’s going to be tough. But out of those tough challenges come your great rewards. Winning the Ashes in Australia was a tough challenge but it felt even better at the end of it because it was tough. If it was easy it’s not as much fun if you come out on top.”

Members of Pakistan’s team cooked up plans to underperform in an effort to remove former Twenty20 and one-day captain Shahid Afridi from his position, a court heard on Tuesday

Richard Sydenham at Southwark Crown Court11-Oct-2011Members of Pakistan’s team cooked up plans to underperform in an effort to remove former Twenty20 and one-day captain Shahid Afridi from his position, a court heard on Tuesday.During day five of the alleged spot-fixing trial of former Pakistan Test captain Salman Butt and fast bowler Mohammad Asif at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday, a jury heard recordings of how Pakistan players wanted Butt to be their captain in all formats of the game.The comments were made by the agent at the centre of the allegations Mazhar Majeed. Secret recordings from a covert sting operation by an undercover journalist were being played to the court when the comments of the anti-Afridi plan were heard.”There’s a thing going on with the players,” Majeed was heard to say. “A lot of the boys want to f*** up Afridi because he is trying to f*** up things for them and he’s the captain of the Twenty20 and one-day (side). They all want Butt to be captain.”Majeed explained that Butt and wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal would “waste two or three overs” to slow Pakistan’s run rate.The jury has already learned of how Majeed didn’t want to fix Test matches for Pakistan to lose because he wanted Butt to be successful so that he would stay in his position. The court was also told on Monday of plans to lose a match in either the Twenty20 or 50-over series in England, matches that followed the Test matches last year.The case continues.

Round-up of the first day of matches in the Caribbean T20 2010-11

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jan-2011Andre Fletcher led an impressive batting performance by Windward Islands that saw them beat Combined Campuses and Colleges by 28 runs
at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua. Fletcher scored 88 off 59 balls at the top of the order as Windward amassed 189. Fletcher added 68 runs with his opening partner Johnson Charles and then another 78 with Keddy Lesporis. But it was the last two overs that took Windwards’ total from a competitive one to a match-winning one. They were 146 for 2 when Lesporis was out off the last ball of the 18th over. Captain Darren Sammy walked in, faced five balls, hit two of them for boundaries and one for six, and finished with 18 not out. Fletcher was equally aggressive at the other end as Windwards added 43 in the last two overs.CCC managed to stay abreast with the required run-rate till around the 12th over of their innings. Captain Romel Currency and Miles Bascombe put together 65 for the first wicket and they had moved to 102 for 2 in 11.1 overs. A couple of quick wickets set them back, William Perkins falling to seamer Keon Peters, and Floyd Reifer dismissed by fast bowler Nelon Pascal. The run-rate slowed and wickets fell in a heap at the end as the lower-middle order tried to reach the total. CCC finished at 161 for 8.

Defending champions Guyana sunk to a 50-run loss against Jamaica in the opening game of the Caribbean Twenty20 at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua. In a low-scoring fixture, Marlon Samuels starred with 42, striking four fours, to guide his team to 115 for 7. Offspinner Royston Crandon bagged three wickets to restrict Jamaica to what seemed like a below-par score, but Guyana were abject in their reply. Opener Travis Dowlin was the team’s highest scorer with 14, and only two batsmen reached double-figures, as Guyana were shot out for 65. Fast-bowling allrounder Andre Russell picked up three wickets and was supported by Dave Bernard and Krishmar Santioke, who grabbed two each.