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Michael Hussey is uncomfortable with the possibility of batsmen being rotated out of the Australian Test team

Daniel Brettig05-Dec-2011Michael Hussey is uncomfortable with the possibility of batsmen being rotated out of the Australian Test team, though this is the scenario that may be about to play out as the selectors ponder whether to press allrounder Daniel Christian into the XI in Hobart.The opener Phillip Hughes, presently wrestling with his technique and the bowling of Chris Martin, is the obvious player to leave out of the second Test against New Zealand, should John Inverarity and his panel choose to augment Australia’s attack with Christian.While rotation has been acknowledged as a likely strategy to manage Australia’s bowling stocks this summer under the new regime headed by the team performance manager Pat Howard, Hussey said he had not considered that batsmen might be shuffled for reasons of team balance.”It hasn’t really been communicated to us yet in that sort of way,” Hussey said. “I think from a batting point of view, if you’re playing well you want to keep batting, and if things aren’t quite going right, you want to keep playing so you can get that big score.”So I think it’d be more so with the bowling stocks, because there’s so much cricket and back-to-back games, it is tough to keep backing up. Maybe more [rotation] with the bowlers, but I think from a batting point of view, once you get in there you want to keep the roll going.”It is a good thing there are going to be so many quality players who are going to be coming back from injury and putting pressure on everyone in the order. As a batsman you need to be scoring runs, and doing it consistently to keep your place in the team.”Watching Hughes’ performances, Hussey counselled the 23-year-old to keep playing his way, and not to shelve the cut stroke that had him pouched in the gully. Hughes was caught Guptill, bowled Martin in each innings, prompting New Zealand’s captain Ross Taylor to foreshadow a similar fate in Hobart should Hughes be retained.”I thought the first one that he got dropped was a pretty good ball, it left him a fair bit,” Hussey said. “The second one, it is his signature shot really, the cut shot, and many times you’ve seen it whistle to the fence for four. So I certainly wouldn’t be saying to him to stop playing the cut shot, because he’s got so many runs from it and will continue to.”He works extremely hard and he knows the areas he’s got to work on, and I just think it is really important for him to keep a clear mind and keep playing his way. There’s always things you want to get better at, but he’s still put together some real good scores for us in difficult conditions in South Africa and also in Sri Lanka.”Hussey is no stranger to technical foibles, having re-invented his own game numerous times over a long career. He said in his case, the solution to an early problem of head position had been basic.”Early in my career, my head used to fall over quite a lot, so I was definitely vulnerable more to lbws and missed out on a lot of runs off my pads,” Hussey said. “So that’s something I had to nut out over quite a period of time. That’s the one that sticks in my mind.”I used to stand with my bat on the ground, so my head was always over my stance, that’s when I started standing up so I could then take my head towards the bowler rather than falling over. That’s a pretty basic sort of change, but it’s definitely effective.”Australia’s dressing room was a vibrant place after the first Test victory, as team-mates young and old enjoyed a comprehensive victory. Hussey reserved particular praise for fast bowler James Pattinson, who he felt delivered the kind of second innings spell that would have done for batsmen of any nation.”I just remember back to my first Test [against West Indies at the Gabba in 2005] it is pretty much a write-off emotionally, because its such a big event and a big sort of five days,” Hussey said. “But I was really happy with the way all the guys were able to get over that first spell, get over those first nerves, and get in and concentrate on what they had to do. James Pattinson in particular, that spell was unbelievable really, and just ripped the heart out of the New Zealand batting order. That was awesome to watch and be a part of it out there.”Ahead of the squad’s journey to Hobart, Hussey said it was fitting that Ricky Ponting had put together a pair of promising scores, suggesting he would be ready to occupy the crease for a long time on his home ground – coincidentally the place of his last Test century, 209 against Pakistan, 29 innings ago.”I reckon his last two innings have been really good and he’s still building,” Hussey said. “He’s batting well, he’s got good scores, but in his mind he’ll be seeing them as good starts, and he’ll want to double and triple that sort of start. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets in in Tassie he’ll be a very, very difficult man to dismiss.”

A round-up of matches from the third match-day of the One Day National Cup Division Two 2010-11

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jan-2011Group A
Lahore Lions handed Hyderabad Hawks a hammering at the United Bank Limited Sports Complex in Karachi, winning by 222 runs. It was complete dominance by Lahore Lions as they scored 304 and then rolled over Hyderabad for 82. Their batting effort was led by opener Abid Ali and former Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf, who has been excluded from the national squad for the 2011 World Cup. Ali made 86 and Yousuf 81 off 76 as Lahore Lions reached 228 for 1. Even though they lost wickets towards the end of the innings, a quick, unbeaten 31 by Mohammad Saad took them past the 300-run mark. Hyderabad’s chase was doomed for the start as seamer Asif Ashfaq took three early wickets and they collapsed to 18 for 4. Legspinner Tanzeel Altaf ran through the rest of Hyderabad’s line-up, finishing with 4 for 21 as Hyderabad’s innings lasted only 25.3 overs.It was another one-sided game at the National Stadium in Karachi, as Karachi Zebras beat Quetta Bears by 198 runs. Karachi reached 344, with Khalid Latif scoring 127 off 108 balls and Akbar-ur-Rehman getting 77 off 48. Quetta lost their last seven wickets for 37 and were bowled out for 146 in 33.2 overs. Akbar-ur-Rehman followed up his half-century with four wickets with his seamer and spinner Atif Maqbool took 3 for 18.Group B
Lahore Eagles eased to their second win of the tournament, beating Pakistan Television by seven wickets at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground. Legspinning allrounder Saad Nasim starred with a five-for, undermining half-centuries from wicketkeeper Fayyaz Ahmed and Yasim Murtaza, who had put together 70 runs for the seventh wicket and rescued their team from 96 for 6. Pakistan Television could only manage 201, which was easily overhauled. Useful contributions from opener Hamza Paracha and Kashif Nizami backed up an unbeaten 74 from Usman Salahuddin. He added an unbeaten 77 with captain Intikhab Alam to seal victory with 31 balls to spare.Peshawar Panthers opened their account in the competition with a 20-run win in a low-scoring encounter against Abbottabad Falcons at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar. The hosts were put in and skittled out for 146, with only opener Haroon Ahmed offering any significant resistance. He played out 86 deliveries for his 57, and while Mahfooz Sabri made a quick 20. For Abbottabad, seamers Junaid Khan and Aziz-ur-Rehman shared seven wickets, but in vain. Barring opener Fawad Khan’s 56, and Junaid’s 29 way down the order, the rest of the Abbottabad batting crumbled as Riaz Afridi led Peshawar’s charge with four wickets. The bowlers ran through the line-up to shut the visitors out for 126.

Until this match Ricky Ponting looked like a man whose best days were behind him

Brydon Coverdale at Bellerive Oval15-Jan-2010Ricky Ponting never stops surprising. Until this season he had enforced the follow-on twice in 62 Tests as captain; he now hopes to do it for the second time this summer. Until this match he looked, at 35, like a man whose best days were behind him; he countered that perception with his third-highest Test score and the biggest partnership he has ever been involved in at Test level.It was significant that the 352-run stand came with Michael Clarke, the vice-captain and the man who will take over the leadership whenever Ponting decides to carry his Kookaburra and faded baggy-green off into the sunset. If he keeps playing like he has over the past two days, that could be several years away.Whenever it arrives, Australia want Clarke to be perfectly prepared and gradual moves into the Twenty20 and one-day captaincy have been part of the process. As the two men dragged the match further and further out of Pakistan’s reach, it felt as if Ponting was an old warrior teaching the younger man how to kill off a prey, clinically and without mercy.For all Clarke’s successes as a Test player, turning hundreds into big ones had been a problem. Until today, his highest score remained the 151 he carved on debut in Bangalore and his longest innings was 367 minutes. Here, he lasted 437 minutes for 166.”We haven’t actually shared many big partnerships together in Test cricket, so to get that done, when we were under a bit of pressure early in the innings at 3 for 70 when we came together, was nice,” Ponting said. “I knew he made that 150 on debut, so when he was getting close to that today I was urging him along to make sure he went past that total.”At different times we pushed each other along and at different times told each other to pull the reins back in a little bit as well. That’s a big part of it. That was one of the great strengths that Hayden and Langer and myself and Marto and those guys had. Because we knew each other so well and knew our games so well, it was quite easy to coach each other through difficult times. Michael and I have played a lot of cricket together now and know each other’s games really well.”Even for Ponting, who has now scored five double-centuries for his country, his 530-minute stay was the second-longest he had ever batted in a Test innings, exactly an hour short of the period needed to make his career-high 257 six years ago. He finished with 209 and only departed because he was looking for quick runs. Staying focused for so many hours was not terribly difficult, he said, especially when he was keen to atone for a disappointing summer.”You’re only concentrating for a couple of seconds at a time but it’s having that ability to switch off between balls and look around the crowd, or talk with your partner, or whatever you need to do to keep fresh,” he said. “But I’ve had plenty of batting time stored up, I haven’t done a lot lately, so there was plenty of patience and concentration left in me for the summer.”Ponting’s wonderful innings was followed by four wickets within 36 overs as Pakistan replied late in the day and it has given Australia an excellent opportunity to make their opponents bat again. Ponting did that to West Indies at the Gabba in November and with showers expected at different stages over the remainder of the Test, he is keen to make it twice in three months if his bowlers keep breaking through.”A lot of the reason today for us batting around that tea interval and getting around 500 was to hopefully be able to make them follow-on,” he said. “It gave us two options in the game – if they batted long, we were hopefully still going to have a reasonable lead but if we happen to bowl them out it obviously gave us a chance to enforce the follow-on with that sort of total. There was a bit of that thinking today, with that weather in mind.”He was praised in Brisbane for keeping West Indies under his control and finishing the Test in three days. He will be congratulated again if he delivers Australia’s fifth win of the summer.

Bangladesh are under pressure, having lost seven ODIs in a row now

Mohammad Isam04-Jul-2025Bangladesh’s batters need to take on more responsibility, according to opener Tanzid Hasan. He was one of two batters to score a half-century against Sri Lanka two days ago, before a dramatic collapse led to a 77-run loss in the first ODI in Colombo.Tanzid said that Bangladesh could have chased 245 – their target on Wednesday – had he and Najmul Hossain Shanto managed to extend their 71-run second-wicket stand. It was Shanto’s run-out, followed by Tanzid’s dismissal later in the same over, that sparked Bangladesh’s implosion: 7 for 5 in just 26 balls.”We had a long discussion about the last match,” Tanzid said. “The coaches told us that on a wicket like this, those who get set need to finish things off since it’s hard for new batters to adjust. They have top quality spinners in their side, so those who are set need to bat as long as possible.Related

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Those words carry extra weight on the eve of the second ODI which will be taking place at the same venue, the R Premadasa stadium. “The way the wicket is behaving, if someone gets set, he needs to play a long innings and take the team home,” Tanzid said. “Shanto and I, the way we were batting at that time, if we had stayed for another 10-15 overs, the match would have been much easier. Just one message for the next match: for those who are new to the wicket, it’s a bit difficult at first, but set batters need to bat long, bat deep, and take the game to the end.”Tanzid said Bangladesh need to be more mindful of individual match-ups. He explained that the left-handers should have taken more of the strike against the Wanindu Hasaranga, who ran riot during the collapse. The legspinner finished with figures of 4 for 10.”The left-hand batters need to take as much strike as possible since he [Hasaranga] is less effective against left-handers compared to right-handers. So, a few pieces of information like that were given to us, which might help us in the next match.”When Tanzid and Shanto – both left-handers – were batting together, Bangladesh looked comfortable. The pair struck 12 boundaries between them, forcing Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka to keep Hasaranga out of the attack. Tanzid, however, said he doesn’t rate his 62 too highly.”I don’t think I played well,” he said. “I didn’t fulfill the team’s requirements. If I had, then I would have said that I played well. But there is a chance to make a comeback. It’s a three-match series. One match is done. The next one is important. If we can make a comeback, then , we will still be in contention.”Bangladesh are also under pressure to break a eight-month-long winless streak in ODIs. They have lost seven matches in a row during this time (not counting one that was abandoned to rain in Rawalpindi in February). Additionally, they are missing two of their most experienced batters, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah — a void that was clearly felt in the first game. Bangladesh’s middle order (positions 4 to 6) contributed just one run: Litton Das and captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz were dismissed for ducks, while Towhid Hridoy managed just one.This was Bangladesh’s lowest middle-order contribution in ODI history. The last time the middle-order produced a single-digit total was in 2006.

After his heroics at the ODI World Cup, he is “really excited to see how my [Test] game has evolved” while in Bangladesh

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Nov-20231:38

Ravindra: Looking to do it ‘my way’ as a spinner in Bangladesh

“Pretty surreal,” Rachin Ravindra says, summing up his two years in international cricket, which was capped by a special ODI World Cup in India, where he scored 543 runs, with three centuries and two half-centuries.”Things have happened quite quickly, and I am very fortunate to be here right now,” he said in Sylhet, where New Zealand are getting ready for a two-Test series against Bangladesh before heading back home where they will again play Bangladesh, though in a short-format series.”At my age, being able to travel around the world playing cricket, playing a game you love, for a living is pretty special. [It] definitely has its ups and downs, but mostly I love every single moment,” Ravindra, just past his 24th birthday, said. “Look, I think it’s a testament to the team environment: to be able to come in and play with freedom, and enjoy my time learning from those guys who have been here for so long. It’s been great to rub shoulders with everyone, and hopefully I can keep learning from them.”Related

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And transitioning from white-ball cricket to red-ball cricket is not a big deal. In fact, it’s something Ravindra said he looked forward to.”I enjoy going back to red-ball cricket after that (ODIs) because that means your intent… you are almost looking to score, so, I mean, [it] keeps you in a good position to score,” he said. “But probably here [in Bangladesh] it depends on the conditions, what the pitch is doing, it’s probably going to dial that back a little bit, not as many risks. You can still play your natural game, by understanding the surface and the situation of the game dictates you.”I think we sometimes don’t understand how long a Test match really is – you have five days of 90 overs each day, so there’s a lot of time here, so hopefully we can bring that calmness in the group from the one-dayers to the red-ball stuff.”It has just been three Tests for Ravindra so far. Two in his debut series, in India in late 2021, and one against Bangladesh in Mount Maunganui early last year, which ended in a famous Bangladesh win. Ravindra’s numbers aren’t special in the format: just 73 runs from six innings.”I really loved my first experience of Test cricket a couple of years ago, and [I am] really excited to see how my game has evolved,” he said.Come Tuesday, in the first Test against Bangladesh on their own soil, Ravindra, if he plays, could bat much lower than the No. 3 position he took at the ODI World Cup. It will be different for sure.”It obviously depends. You’ve got a little transition period, and you probably don’t have as much time to get yourself in; but also it’s Test cricket, so you actually do have a lot of time,” he said. “It’s a different role for sure; it’s not a new ball – I might come in and straightaway face a spinner.”So [it’s] just [about] wrapping your head around that and seeing what sort of way you can adjust your game plan and get used to facing slower bowling instead of seam up top. But the beauty of it [is that] you contribute whatever way you can for the team no matter what role it is, and hopefully you contribute to a win.”

Ravindra the bowler ‘trying to do it my way’

Ravindra’s batting gives him an edge in terms of selection in the XI, but there’s a lot of quality in New Zealand’s spin-heavy squad in Bangladesh: Ajaz Patel, Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner (another allrounder, though primarily a bowler) are the specialists, and apart from Ravindra, there’s also Glenn Phillips, a batter with a knack of picking up crucial wickets with his offspin.Sylhet, the venue of the first Test against Bangladesh, is known to be a bit more seamer-friendly than, say, Dhaka, but spinners should have a big role to play there too. The second Test will be played in Dhaka. So Ravindra, and the other New Zealand spinners, should be in the game. So Ravindra wants to learn as much as he can, especially from Ajaz and Sodhi; but for him, it’s about “trying to understand what they do well but still trying to do it my way”.”Those wickets back in 2021 [when New Zealand played five T20Is in Dhaka] were very interesting, I guess,” he said with a laugh. “It was quite difficult to bat on, but it was good fun to bowl on.”Rachin Ravindra had an economy rate of 5.98 during the World Cup, where he picked 2 for 21 against Sri Lanka•AFP/Getty Images

His takeaways from that trip? “Bowl with a quicker pace rather than what we are probably accustomed to bowling back home; if you are putting it in the area and dialling up the pace a little bit more, hopefully have a little bit of success.”On that T20I tour, Ravindra scored 47 runs in five innings, including two ducks, and picked up six wickets, including a three-for, even as New Zealand lost 3-2.Despite being a batting allrounder, Ravindra’s ability to bowl left-arm spin could see him given more responsibility with the ball than he might get elsewhere. At the World Cup, he was more than useful, not always picking up a lot of wickets – though the 2 for 21 vs Sri Lanka was quite cool – but more than pulling his weight as one of the fifth bowlers, returning a tournament economy of 5.98.And like on the tour of Pakistan in April-May this year, New Zealand will have the services of Saqlain Mushtaq to fall back on in Bangladesh too. He has been working with the spinners in Sylhet, and Ravindra is “really excited” about it, and not just because of the obvious reason.”Really excited to link up with him again, talk a lot about cricket, [and] about life. He imparts some great wisdom, so not just on the field but off the field [too].”

The top two teams in the eight-team event will qualify for the 2023 T20 World Cup in South Africa

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Aug-2022Abu Dhabi will host the Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier from September 18 to 25. The top two teams taking part in the eight-team event will qualify for the 2023 Women’s T20 World Cup, which is set to be held in South Africa.The eight teams taking part in the Qualifier have reached the tournament via different routes. Bangladesh and Thailand, who took the two spots reserved for the bottom two teams from the previous edition of the Women’s T20 World Cup in 2020, are also the highest-placed teams on the ICC Women’s T20I rankings behind the eight automatic qualifiers for the World Cup.Scotland (Europe), Zimbabwe (Africa), United Arab Emirates (Asia) and United States of America (Americas) won their respective regional qualifiers, while Papua New Guinea qualified as the highest-ranked team from the East Asia Pacific region, since that regional qualifier had to be scrapped due to the Covid-19 pandemic.Ireland, meanwhile, were the highest-ranked team from the regional qualifiers to not win their respective tournament.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The teams have been divided into two groups, with Bangladesh, Ireland, Scotland and USA in Group A and Thailand, Zimbabwe, PNG and UAE in Group B. The top two teams in each group will go through to the semi-finals, with the winners of each semi-final progressing to the final and next year’s World Cup.All matches in the Qualifier will be played at the Abu Dhabi Cricket & Sports Hub, which houses both the Sheikh Zayed Stadium and the adjoining Tolerance Oval.Hosts South Africa, as well as Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and West Indies, have all qualified automatically for the World Cup on the basis of their T20I rankings.

Mahela Jayawardene wants to make sure the allrounder “is completely in a position to come in and bowl”

Sruthi Ravindranath19-Apr-20210:55

Mahela Jayawardene: We don’t want to risk Hardik Pandya’s niggle

Hardik Pandya, who has a shoulder niggle, could be ready to bowl in the next few weeks, according to the Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene, but the team “don’t want to risk it” in the ongoing IPL till he recovers completely and feels comfortable enough.”We were obviously looking forward for him to be bowling this series as last season he was coming back from injury,” Jayawardene said in a press interaction. “But after the ODIs against England I believe he picked up a niggle. So that’s something we are nursing at the moment. We don’t want to risk it because it’s important that we make sure that he is completely in a position to come in and bowl.””Hopefully in the next few weeks, with work and all that, you might see him bowl. It’s not like we are deliberately trying not bowl him. We would love to have him bowling but as soon as the niggle cools off and he is comfortable we should be able to utilise that asset as well.”Related

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Pandya, who has not bowled much in the last couple of years mainly because of lower-back issues, played as a specialist batter during the 2020 IPL. He returned to bowling in the five T20Is against England in March, before which he had bowled just four overs during the second ODI against Australia in November 2020 – the first time he had bowled since the 2019 50-over World Cup. He bowled only in one of the three ODIs against England that followed the T20Is.Earlier, the franchise’s bowling coach Zaheer Khan had said that Pandya’s shoulder concern was “not worrisome”, adding that he would be bowling “very soon”. “He bowled in the India-England series, in the last ODI he bowled about nine overs, and that’s why in consultation with the physios, we had to take that approach,” Khan had said. “There was a little bit of a shoulder concern. I don’t think it’s worrisome, you will very soon see him bowl. For the timelines, you’ll have to ask the physio but in terms of Hardik the bowler coming in this tournament, we are very confident that he will be chipping in.”Pandya has continued to play as a specialist batter for the team this year as well, with Kieron Pollard being used as the sixth bowling option. He had said last year during the Australia tour that his long-term plan was to bowl mainly “in the important games” like “World Cups and “other crucial series”.

CA will meet with ICC CEO just before Christmas to discuss number of global tournaments over the next events’ cycle

Daniel Brettig04-Dec-2019Australia’s first Boxing Day Test with New Zealand in 32 years will take place in the wake of critical talks between Cricket Australia and the ICC, aimed at resolving an impasse over global events for the next international cycle.Financial woes among the majority of Full Member countries have caused them to be increasingly reliant upon cash distributions from ICC events, pushing the global body’s new chief executive Manu Sawhney to lobby for the return of an extra event in the next cycle so that there is a men’s tournament – either a Twenty20 World Cup, 50-over World Cup or shorter, Champions Trophy style 50-over competition – every year.New Zealand’s presence on Boxing Day will be poignant to the moment, for their finances stand as a signal example. Shifting ICC distributions have caused one of cricket’s smaller boards to return financial losses of NZD 1.3 million (USD 846,000 approx) for 2018-19 (as against a projected profit of NZD 1 million) after deficits of $3.5 million in 2018 and $9.3 million in 2017. The most recent loss was all the more troubling for the fact that the 2018-19 season featured an inbound India tour.However CA, the BCCI and the ECB, cricket’s three richest boards, have indicated their hesitance about placing the extra event in the next cycle, already crushed as it is by domestic Twenty20 tournaments and the advent of Test and ODI leagues. These reservations have been expressed by the BCCI’s leadership, the ECB’s chairman Colin Graves, and CA’s chairman Earl Eddings and chief executive Kevin Roberts.”We’ve got Manu Sawhney, the ICC CEO, coming out in a couple of weeks to work through it,” Eddings told ESPNcricinfo. “We’ve got a responsibility as one of the leading countries to make the ICC strong and the countries who are part of the ICC. But we’ve also got to balance that with our own requirements around bilateral cricket. One of the challenges we have is Australia relies more on bilateral cricket than the ICC, where for a lot of countries it is the other way round. So just trying to find the balance.”You’ve got more T20 competitions spreading around the world, you’ve got the burgeoning IPL and you’ve got our bilateral cricket. More importantly, what does that mean to the players and from a player welfare perspective. So you’ve got all these challenges to try to work through. I think there’s a solution there, I don’t know what it is yet, but we’ll keep talking to the ICC and other countries to find a way to one, maximise the opportunities for the ICC and its members but also look after the needs of bilateral cricket and most importantly protect the sanctity of Test cricket.”We’re working through it with the ICC at the moment, that’s why Manu’s coming down, let’s sit down and work out what the options are, put some of the minutiae around it, so people can make a more informed decision. The ICC in concept approved it, subject to making sure it doesn’t impact on bilateral cricket, where you play, how you play it, how you bid for it.”Eddings, who has operated on a relational and trust-building platform since becoming CA chairman in 2018, is conscious of the problems affecting other boards and has proposed, among other things, that the ICC and member countries adopt a four-year financial cycle to smooth out year-on-year financial distributions to reduce cashflow issues.”During the last cycle of ICC events, there was last year (2018) when they didn’t have an event, and that had massive implications for distributions back to all of the countries,” he said. “Where that isn’t a problem for Australia, it is for others. So we’re trying to make sure you’ve got that cycle with an event every year so there’s consistency of revenue. But the challenge we have is the number of days – compared to the previous cycle when they did have an event every year, the events themselves didn’t run that long, but now the events have got bigger.”So you’ve got a lot more ICC content to fit into a smaller calendar, with all the T20 leagues around the world. So that’s the challenge now, trying to squeeze too much content into too little time.”We’ve certainly made that recommendation [for a four-year cycle] to the ICC. We’ve got the same problem [as other Full Members] only on a smaller scale, some years we make a lot of money, other years we lose a lot of money, depending on who’s travelling and your media rights. You don’t want to be up and down with your cash flows, particularly back to [CA’s member] states who rely on your funding. So we smooth it out, we look at how much money we’ve made over the four-year cycle as opposed to an up and down cycle of year by year.”The talks with Sawhney are aimed at working towards a solution before there is any danger of the game again being split along financial lines, as occurred during the infamous “big three” takeover of the ICC by the boards of India, England and Australia in 2014-15.”Not yet, it’s still early days,” Eddings said when asked about any additional details around the proposed extra tournament. “Still got to work out its context, player welfare is really important – you can’t just keep putting in more games to play, I think it’s unfair – and still need to work out where it fits in the calendar. So as a concept it’s up there, but a lot of work has got to be done on what type of event it is, how it plays out. That’s all still a work in progress.”Most of the Test playing countries play in the same season, which makes it more challenging. You’ve got a lot more time in the northern summer, so a whole range of factors need to be considered. A lot of water’s going to go under the bridge before we get that far.”We’re a long way off – this [extra event] is post 2023, so we’ve got a number of years to work through it, but you can’t do one thing without the other. To be able to work on your future tours programme, you need to know where that fits in with an ICC schedule, so you can’t just look at an ICC schedule in isolation, just as you can’t look at a bilateral or future tours programme in isolation.”

Alastair Cook retired an England record-breaker in September but could be in line for even higher honours after being proposed for an early knighthood

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Nov-20181:10

What was it like when England last played a Test without Cook?

Arise, Sir Alastair? He was England’s hero in whites for more than a decade, a record-breaking run-scorer and distinguished former captain, but Alastair Cook could be in line for even higher honours after being proposed for an early knighthood.Cook retired from England duty in September, having amassed 12,472 Test runs and 33 hundreds – both records for England. In his final Test, against India at The Oval, he signed off with innings of 71 and 147 amid widespread acclaim for his impact on the game.Now the wheels have been set in motion that could one day see him knighted. Last month, a member of the House of Lords tabled a parliamentary question, “to ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to recomending Alastair Cook for knighthood”.Lord Tyrie has also written to the authorities in charge of the honours list, according to a report in the newspaper. “It is not just that Alastair Cook is unquestionably the best batsman England have produced in recent years but that he can make a massive contribution as an ambassador for cricket at home and abroad,” Tyrie said. “Nobody would be more deserving.”Ian Botham is currently the only living English cricketer in possession of a knighthood – although his was awarded for services to charity – while the likes of West Indians Garry Sobers and Viv Richards, and New Zealander Richard Hadlee have received the honour.The government has unsurprisingly remained tight-lipped about the possibility – but if 33-year-old Cook were to be singled out, it might raise an eyebrow in Yorkshire, where many believe Geoffrey Boycott is long overdue a knighthood for his services to the game as a player and commentator.

Team management’s decision to spread workload uniformly on the bowlers has helped, says India pacer

Alagappan Muthu in Nagpur30-Sep-2017In the last two years, it would seem that India have earmarked Umesh Yadav for long-form cricket. The 29-year old fast bowler has played 19 out of 24 Tests in this period, but only 21 of the 40 ODIs, and he might just prefer it that way.”The thing with ODIs is that there will always be games. I enjoy playing Tests more,” Umesh said at a press conference at his home ground in Nagpur. “You have time in a Test and there are situations and match simulations (in the preparations) to know how to respond to a situation. I like those challenges. I like that because it increases confidence and also makes a bowler more accurate. You know the line and length you need on a particular surface and you focus on that. I am more than happy to play as a Test bowler.”However, Umesh clarified that he was not quite ready to start picking and choosing formats. “Playing both Tests and ODIs is good and particularly for me, because I am at an age when the more cricket I play the better it is for me,” he said. “I don’t want to be at a stage where I am saying I don’t want to play this format or that, I want to keep going. I would love to play in all formats.”To a certain extent, India now have enough seamers of quality and variety that they can manage their workloads better without losing their potency as a team. At the start of the Bengaluru ODI, Australia captain Steven Smith rated Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar as the world’s best death bowlers in 50-overs cricket. And over the course of a long home season in 2016-17, Mohammed Shami and Umesh won praise from their own captain, who said they were among the top five quicks in Test cricket.Separating them to play the respective formats they are good at seems not only the logical choice, but also helps the players function at peak fitness. “I think it’s good for the fast bowlers,” Umesh said. “If you continuously play Test cricket, it’s lot of load for fast bowler. Playing in sub-continent conditions is very tough. Slow wicket, no pace and bounce for fast bowlers, you have to give your 100 per cent. It’s very hard for the fast bowlers to come to one-day cricket with the same intensity [immediately afterwards]. It is better you get some rest. It also helps you recover from small niggles. It’s a good concept as we get proper rest and look after ourselves properly.”Umesh also felt that fast bowlers could not afford to become full-fledged Test or one-day specialists because of their fitness needs. “If you are playing a lot of Test cricket, say 15-20 Tests in a year, then you have to decide what to do. Because you can’t otherwise say I only want to play Tests – there are fewer Tests in the year, so what will you do the rest of the time?”It is important for a player’s body to have match practice. We say it’s good to keep practicing and everything will be fine, but that’s not the case. Until you don’t play matches, your physical form is not ideal and you don’t have that match-situation awareness. When you’re bowling in a match, you have to use your whole body and you know what lines you have to bowl. In the nets you do practice but at that time, you don’t really understand where the ball is going and what a situation is. There’s a big difference between bowling to batsmen on your team and the opposition’s batsmen.”So if there is a situation where we are playing four Tests against a team and then there are ODIs, I prefer playing Tests first. The way my body responds and how fit I am, then I will say I am ready. But there is no such thing for me that I will play only Tests or only ODIs. If you don’t accept all the challenges in cricket, then what are you a fast bowler for?”