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Toby Roland-Jones struck 82 from No. 9 and then claimed two wickets in his first over as Sri Lanka A slipped to 29 for 4 in reply to England Lions’ first-innings 316

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Feb-2017
ScorecardFile photo – Toby Roland-Jones claimed two wickets after cracking 82•Getty Images

Toby Roland-Jones struck 82 from No. 9 and then claimed two wickets in his first over as Sri Lanka A slipped to 29 for 4 in reply to England Lions’ first-innings 316 on the first day in Pallekele. The Lions had recovered from 61 for 3 and 210 for 8 to post a substantial score before ripping into the hosts’ top order.Having chosen to bat, the Lions lost Haseeb Hameed and Nick Gubbins in the opening four overs, Asitha Fernando striking twice. Keaton Jennings, captaining the tourists, then fell to Sri Lanka Test offspinner Dilruwan Perera for 23 before lunch, bowled attempting to reverse-sweep.Tom Westley, who made 95 in a warm-up game earlier in the week, helped fashion a recovery in partnership with Liam Livingstone, as the fourth-wicket pair put on 126 in 27 overs. Westley struck 14 fours and a six but fell short of a century when hooking Kasun Rajitha to a deep leg slip; Livingstone also departed three overs later, the first of four wickets for Malinda Pushpakumara.Pushpakumara struck either side of tea, removing Sam Curran, Tom Curran and Ben Foakes cheaply, as the Lions lost 5 for 21 to squander some of their advantage. Sri Lanka A were unable to wrap up the innings quickly, though, as Ollie Rayner – selected ahead of Jack Leach – helped add 38 for the ninth wicket and then No. 11 Tom Helm held up an end in a stand of 68 as Roland-Jones thumped eight fours and three sixes before being last out.”At 210 for eight, having been 189 for three, you worry about throwing a good position away,” England selector Angus Fraser said. “Getting bowled out for under 250 would have been disappointing from that position. So to inch your way up 10 runs at a time and end up with 316, you’re in the game. It was a good recovery. But there were a couple of good innings at the front end by Westley and Livingstone as well.”Westley batted beautifully. Losing two early wickets he was under a bit of pressure, going out there far earlier than he would have thought. But he and Livingstone manoeuvred the ball around really well, put the bad balls away, took the easy singles that were on offer, and looked in total control. It was good to see. Certainly for Liam, he’s not played a lot of first-class cricket yet, so to see him strike the ball as well as he did was good – and the same with Tom, he was unbelievably strong off his legs.”Sri Lanka A fielded several players with Test match experience, including the openers, Udara Jayasundera and Dimuth Karunaratne. Both had been dismissed inside eight deliveries, however, and Roland-Jones quickly picked up his second wicket – both dismissals lbw – to leave Sri Lanka A 12 for 3.Sandun Weerakkody, who made his international debut on the recent tour of South Africa, briefly steadied the innings but, with the close looming, saw Roshen Silva edge Helm behind – another first-over wicket – to leave the Lions well on top.

Lahiru Madushanka, Chaturanga de Silva, and Sandun Weerakkody have been added to the ODI squad as replacements for the injured trio of Angelo Mathews, Nuwan Pradeep, and Danushka Gunathilaka

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jan-2017With an injured Angelo Mathews returning home, Upul Tharanga has been named stand-in captain for the five-match ODI series against South Africa, ahead of Dinesh Chandimal, who will lead the side in the series-deciding third T20I on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka’s ODI squad

Upul Tharanga (capt.), Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva, Thikshila de Silva, Niroshan Dickwella, Lahiru Madushanka, Asela Gunaratne, Sandun Weerakkody, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suranga Lakmal, Kusal Mendis, Chaturanga de Silva,Sachith Pathirana, Seekkuge Prasanna, Lakshan Sandakan, Isuru Udana.

Seam-bowling allrounder Lahiru Madushanka and wicketkeeper-batsman Sandun Weerakkody received their maiden call-ups in ODIs and are due to join the squad already in South Africa along with left-arm spinning allrounder Chaturanga de Silva, who has played six ODIs.They will act as cover for fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep and opener Danushka Gunathilaka who have returned home with hand and back problems respectively.In November, when both Mathews and Chandimal were injured, Tharanga became Sri Lanka’s 19th captain in ODIs, and led them to a tri-series win in Zimbabwe. This came after Tharanga was dropped for the home series against Australia, only playing in the fifth ODI after the series was lost.Chaturanga last played for Sri Lanka in 2014, but he has worked his way back into contention with strong performances in first-class cricket. He picked up 35 wickets in six matches at 21.71, including two five-wicket hauls, in addition to 560 runs at 50.90, including six fifties, for Nondescripts Cricket Club in the Premier League tournament.Madushanka hit 346 runs and took 15 wickets in seven matches in the same tournament, while Weerakoddy, opening the batting, scored 530 runs in six matches. He is the third wicketkeeper-batsman in the squad behind Nondescripts Cricket Club team-mates Chandimal and Niroshan Dickwella.The first ODI begins in Port Elizabeth on January 28.

Kanjibhai had tested positive while his son was playing in IPL 2021

Nagraj Gollapudi09-May-2021Kanjibhai Sakariya, the father of Rajasthan Royals fast bowler Chetan Sakariya, died in Bhavnagar, Gujarat, on Sunday from Covid-19.Kanjibhai had tested positive while his son was playing in IPL 2021, and is the second family member Sakariya has lost this year. Weeks before the IPL auction in February, his younger brother Rahul died by suicide.Sakariya was bought by the Royals for INR 1.2 crore (USD 164,000 approx) and it was a good investment for them as the 23-year-old uncapped left-armer consistently impressed in the tournament before it was postponed. On his IPL debut, against the Punjab Kings, in a high-scoring match where both teams amassed 438 runs, Sakariya was the most economical bowler among those to complete their quota of four overs, finishing with figures of 3 for 31 and 13 dot balls. Overall, Sakariya had picked up seven wickets including those of KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, MS Dhoni, Ambati Rayudu and Nitish Rana.Related

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On a personal front, Sakariya had become his family’s solitary breadwinner after Kanjibhai’s tempo business folded. Living in a one-room house until the time of the IPL auction, Sakariya had told ESPNcricinfo recently that his dream was to build a new house from his IPL earnings.Among other Indian players at the IPL to have family affected by Covid-19 was Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni, whose parents tested positive, and Delhi Capitals spinner R Ashwin, who left the IPL after several of his family tested positive. India women’s batter Veda Krishnamurthy lost both her mother and sister to the virus.

Vaccination passports being considered as clubs focus on getting crowds back into venues

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Mar-2021The domestic game is expected to report combined losses in excess of £100 million by the time all 18 first-class counties have published their accounts at the end of April, according to Neil Snowball, the ECB’s managing director of county cricket.Snowball, whose final season as Warwickshire’s chief executive last year was dominated by the Covid-19 outbreak, added that the county game will begin this year’s campaign on April 8 with “optimism, but a degree of uncertainty” after achieving the sport’s first aim of “getting everybody to the start line” after the existential threats of the 2020 summer.The figure floated by Snowball differs from the £100 million losses incurred by the ECB in 2020 – which were in themselves mitigated by the successful staging of a full programme of England men’s international fixtures, which fulfilled the board’s broadcasting deal with Sky Sports.Instead, it reflects the lost ticket sales, hospitality and events that would ordinarily have boosted the coffers of the individual clubs, including conferences and weddings. “The larger venues that have more diverse revenue streams have copped it more than others,” Snowball said. “The bottom line is we need to get people back, we need to get the crowds back.”There are a range of measures available to the first-class counties while the impact of the pandemic is enduring, including ECB loans and the government’s confirmation of a £300 million summer sports survival package.According to the ECB’s roadmap, 25 percent capacity crowds will be permitted from May 17 and 50 percent capacity from June 21, and Snowball said that the counties were considering all options – including the continued use of masks and vaccination passports – to ensure that the return of crowds goes without a hitch.Related

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“There has been a lot of talk. We have gone from no passports to suddenly now looking at a Covid certification,” Snowball said. “We will explore anything that enables us to get our members back and our spectators back. At the moment it looks like that might happen.”If you look at June 21, it is going to be a question of balancing three things. One, if there is going to be some sort of passport or Covid certification, second is testing, third is some sort of social distancing and we have said we will do whatever we are asked to do to make sure we can get the maximum number of people back.”The ideal would be some sort of certification with an element of social distancing and probably wearing masks.”The first lot of games will be behind closed doors. From May 17, as per the roadmap, we can get the venues back to 25 per cent and that is exactly what they are gearing up for.”We are trying to be as optimistic as we can about June 21, the demand for tickets has been huge and venues will be trying to get maximum crowds in.”We will know about a month out. I am really hopeful we can get significant crowds back.”

New Zealand Women have picked 16-year-old legspinner Amelia Kerr for the next month’s home series against Pakistan

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Oct-2016New Zealand Women have picked 16-year-old legspinner Amelia Kerr for the next month’s home series against Pakistan Women. Allrounder Sophie Devine and batsman Liz Perry returned to the squad, while spinners Leigh Kasperek and Erin Bermingham were unavailable for selection.Kerr has represented Wellington Women for close to two years in limited-overs cricket. She is the granddaughter of former Test cricketer Bruce Murray, and her parents have also represented Wellington in domestic cricket.New Zealand coach Haidee Tiffin said changes like Kerr’s inclusion were done keeping the 2017 Women’s World Cup in mind.”Amelia has deserved this recognition – it’s a wonderful opportunity for her, and we’re also delighted to be welcoming back Sophie and Liz,” Tiffin said. “Our strategy is to use the opportunities we have to challenge players and to evaluate our game-plans, in order to give us the best possible lead-in to the 2017 World Cup.”Batsman Natalie Dodd and allrounder Maddy Green, who are a part of the squad in the ongoing series against South Africa, have been left out. Green had been picked for the South Africa matches as a replacement for offspinner Kasperek who was sidelined for eight weeks after fracturing her finger.Pakistan’s tour will start with the five-match ODI series from November 9, and will be played in Lincoln and Nelson. The last three ODIs will be counted for points in the ICC Women’s Championship and will be the last round of matches in the tournament for both teams. New Zealand are currently placed fourth on the table with 20 points, one point behind England Women, and have a chance to cement automatic qualification for next year’s World Cup by beating Pakistan, who are placed seventh. The top four teams in the Championship gain automatic entry into the World Cup, and table-toppers Australia Women have already ascertained their place.New Zealand Women’s squad: Suzie Bates (capt), Sam Curtis, Sophie Devine, Holly Huddleston, Amelia Kerr, Katey Martin, Thamsyn Newton, Morna Nielsen, Katie Perkins, Liz Perry, Rachel Priest, Hannah Rowe, Amy Satterthwaite, Lea Tahuhu.

Despite result, West Indies captain is pleased with the performances of Odean Smith, Romario Shepherd and Shamarh Brooks

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jan-2022A 2-1 ODI series defeat at home to Ireland marked “a very, very sad day” for West Indies cricket according to Kieron Pollard as he pulled up his batters for failing to post good enough totals.”I can safely tell you that it’s hurting, and it’s hurting badly,” he said after the decider in Kingston, which West Indies lost by two wickets.”Obviously it’s no secret. Disappointed the way that we played. Disappointed the way we batted throughout the entire series. That is the main reason why we would have faltered,” Pollard said. “We weren’t able to put enough runs on the board. The one game where we were scored 269, we were able to get over the line. But 229 and 212 at this international level is totally unacceptable.”Related

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Asked whether the problem with the batters was technical or psychological, Pollard pointed in both directions, and beyond.”I think it is a combination of everything. I think, overall, holistically, I think we have a batting problem, with all the words as you mentioned – mentally, technically, being able to assess situations, conditions, and play appropriate shots that is needed at that point in time,” he said. “Again, as I have stated, it’s not just the 11 guys that are here, or the 15 guys that are here, it’s around the Caribbean, and we continue to, sort of, reward a guy going to Super50 and score a couple of hundred runs and then, you know, he has to play, or he has to get into the team.”We chop and change different individuals at different times, but I don’t think we are actually addressing the real problem. But, having said that, it’s always easier to, sort of, cast blame or put the responsibility on the guys that you are seeing. And as I said, as a leader, and as a leader of this team, obviously I can take that mantle and I can take that responsibility that we haven’t done well and that is not something we can hide from.”But as I have said before, it’s not just here, it’s overall across all formats, if you be totally, totally honest.”Even before the series had started, Pollard had criticised the West Indian players’ attitude towards fitness, calling it “an issue that has been plaguing us for the last couple of years”. Shimron Hetmyer, in fact, missed the series after failing to meet the expected standards. The problem, according to Pollard at least, goes deeper.Shamarh Brooks’s 93 helped West Indies win the first ODI•AFP/Getty Images

That said, West Indies had a few reasons to be happy. Shamarh Brooks, on ODI debut, hit 93 in the first match and totalled 137 from three innings at a strike rate of 86.16. Odean Smith contributed handy, and quick, runs while also doing well with the ball. Romario Shepherd’s 3 for 50 in the first game was impressive too.”Very, very proud of those two individuals [Smith and Shepherd],” Pollard said. “They have come in and they have shown, in the last series in Pakistan and even this series here, that they want to be at the international level. Obviously they are a bit rough on the edges – I am talking about somebody like an Odean Smith. But you can see the raw talent and… what we see around the world is that persons take that sort of raw talent and good players and make them into great players. That is something we need to do with some of the individuals that we have here. But are we willing to do that?”Romario, he has come in, diligent, hard worker, honest worker, does whatever the team requires, and he shows that he wants it. So well done to these two guys.”And Brooksy, coming into this series, getting a 90 and missing out on a hundred, (then) a 40-odd, missing out today – again, well done to him, but we need to be hungry in order to grab our chances. He would have been one who hadn’t gotten a chance and he had the perfect opportunity here to cement his place. And to the other guys – we need to work harder.”West Indies’ next engagement, again at home, is against England – a series of five T20Is from January 22-30.

ESPNcricinfo previews the second ODI between Ireland and Sri Lanka in Dublin

The Preview by Andrew Miller17-Jun-2016

Match facts

Saturday, June 18
Start time 10.45 local (0945 GMT)

Big picture

Two months ago in Dublin, Cricket Ireland unveiled an ambitious scheme in which it sought to rid the game of its elitist perception and become, by 2020, a mainstream sport to rank alongside the Emerald Isle’s big three: rugby, football and GAA.Nobody expects it to be an overnight process, least of all coming at a time – ten years on from their maiden ODI – when many of the players who have carried the side so far, so quickly, are coming to the end of their careers.But Thursday’s first match against Sri Lanka was a dispiriting setback nonetheless, as a calm century from Dinesh Chandimal and another remarkable international format debut from Dasun Shanaka proved sufficient to overwhelm a host nation whose hopes faded with the dismissal of their captain William Porterfield, for 73, and then collapsed in an undignified heap with their last six wickets tumbling for 18 runs.A further reminder of cricket’s second-tier status will be on parade during the second ODI – albeit one that would cause palpitations for any county ground hosting England for a major match. The Republic of Ireland’s campaign in Euro 2016 will reach a critical juncture during the early stages of the second innings, when they kick off against Belgium in Bordeaux.To their credit, the organisers at Malahide have taken that contest in their stride, with decent advance sales of 2000 tickets, allied to a relaxed gate policy that will make it easy for spectators to come and go when the conflicting priorities kick in.But for the sake of their ambitions at the start of the busiest home season in their history, Ireland need an improved performance against Sri Lanka, having now had a good sighter of both the conditions and a set of opponents whose early tour angst in the Test series against England is now a distant memory.

Form guide

Ireland: LWLLL (last five matches, most recent first)
Sri Lanka: WLWLL

In the spotlight

Dasun Shanaka was underestimated by England when he wobbled through their top order in the first Test at Headingley last month, and he produced a similar display of canny seam and swing to dismember Ireland’s lower-middle order in the opening fixture. Only 12 bowlers in ODI history have taken five wickets on debut, and few of them will have clobbered 42 runs from 19 balls as an . It’s been an impressive arrival.Barry McCarthy had a debut to remember as well. He needed just two deliveries to claim the first wicket of his international career, when Danushka Gunathilaka edged his burly seam to slip. As a 20-year-old net bowler in 2013, a sharp spell in the Malahide nets ahead of England’s fixture in September caught the eye of Ben Stokes, who then recommended McCarthy for a trial at Durham. He went on to become the first Irishman since the 19th Century to play county cricket before making an international appearance.

Team news

With McCarthy seemingly having earned a follow-up appearance, Max Sorensen could be the seamer to make way if Andy McBrine’s offspin is deemed worthy of an outing.Ireland (possible): 1 William Porterfield (capt), 2 Paul Stirling, 3 Ed Joyce, 4 John Anderson, 5 Kevin O’Brien, 6 Stuart Poynter, 7 Gary Wilson (wk), 8 Andy McBrine, 9 Barry McCarthy, 10 Tim Murtagh, 11 Boyd RankinSri Lanka’s batting line-up for the opening match featured the improbable sight of Upul Tharanga coming in at No. 8, an indication of how many options and alternatives their line-up possesses. Kusal Perera, restored to the top of the order after his successful return during the Test series, offers an explosive point of difference.Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Kusal Perera, 2 Danushka Gunathilaka, 3 Lahiru Thirimanne/Kusal Mendis, 4 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 5 Angelo Mathews (capt), 6 Dasun Shanaka, 7 Upul Tharanga/Farveez Maharoof, 8 Seekkuge Prasanna, 9 Suraj Randiv, 10 Shaminda Eranga, 11 Suranga Lakmal

Pitch and conditions

Despite rain in the air, not to mention Northern Ireland’s stunning Euro 2016 victory over Ukraine which provided an alternative focus for the crowd, Thursday’s first ODI produced more than 500 runs across 90.4 overs, which would have been more but for Ireland’s alarming collapse. Sri Lanka proved there are runs on offer, but both sides’ seamers enjoyed the assistance on offer from the surface.

Stats and trivia

• Ireland have yet to beat Sri Lanka in five ODI encounters, with three losses and two abandonments.
• Ireland have never yet won an ODI in Dublin against a Full Member nation. Their best result in nine previous matches was a tie with Pakistan at Clontarf in 2013.

Quotes

“We need to put a couple of things right that we didn’t do, a couple of more partnerships with the bat, and even myself or Kevin [O’Brien] or the lads that get in, kicking on a little bit more and getting that score that’s going to take us up to close to a winning score.”

Tom Alsop crashed his highest NatWest T20 Blast to help Hampshire thrash Somerset by 83 runs to condemn the visitors to the South Group wooden spoon.

ECB Reporters Network29-Jul-2016
ScorecardLiam Dawson caused Somerset’s collapse•Getty Images

Tom Alsop crashed his highest NatWest T20 Blast to help Hampshire thrash Somerset by 83 runs – to condemn the visitors to the South Group wooden spoon.Alsop, on just his eighth Twenty20 appearance, timed and slapped his way to his first format half century.Stand in captain Liam Dawson bagged his first Blast five-for with figures of five for 17 as Somerset’s chase never got going.Alsop started as he meant to go on, after Liam Dawson won the toss and batted, stroking two boundaries through mid-wicket in the first over.Hampshire, who were already resigned to playing youngster after long being knocked out, were further hindered when captain Sean Ervine was injured in the warm up and Adam Wheater was struck down by an illness.Those absentees meant there was a place for teenager Jake Goodwin to make his senior debut, and he took his chance opening up with Alsop.The pair put on a platform building 83 for the first wicket, with the promising Goodwin scoring 32 before he was stumped off fellow Blast first-timer Dominic Bess.Meanwhile, Alsop was clattering everything coming his way, two maximums sailing over the ropes on his way to a maiden format fifty, the seventh of his senior career, off 34 balls.Pakistani Shahid Afridi, on his last Hampshire performance, entertained in a 12-ball cameo, where he bagged 21, but drilled a full toss straight to short extra cover.Another 50 partnership between Alsop and Dawson, standing in for stand in Ervine with James Vince on international duty, followed.Alsop was closing in on three figures but was running out of time to reach it, and with 14 balls left in the innings he opened up – firstly he was dropped at deep mid-wicket but a ball later he departed for 85.The hosts setting Somerset 182 to win, and it did not start well as Adam Hose was caught behind in the second over off Ryan McLaren.South African McLaren was back in the wickets when Peter Trego skied to Gavin Griffiths at mid-on and the Lancashire loanee bowled James Hildreth an over later as the chase faltered.Tom Abell was next to fall, the first of the evening to spin, as Dawson tempting him to cut to a fine diving Alsop.Dawson took two in two balls, Ryan Davies bowled and Josh Davey stumped, and then Afridi joined in when Jim Allenby – a rare positive with 40 – swept to short fine leg.England T20 star Dawson had Bess bowled and Max Waller snaffled deep on the leg side to complete his best analysis in twenty over cricket.Brad Taylor ended the annihilation by castling Oliver Sale, giving Hampshire their fourth win of the campaign as both sides bowed out.

There are no immediate plans to change the captaincy of England’s Test or limited-overs team, according to Andrew Strauss

George Dobell16-Nov-2016There are no immediate plans to change the captaincy of England’s Test or limited-overs team, according to Andrew Strauss. Strauss, the managing director of England cricket, has said he has “every faith” that Alastair Cook will continue as Test captain into the English summer and promised no “recriminations” against Eoin Morgan for his decision not to tour Bangladesh.While Strauss admits to some disappointment that Morgan did not feel able to commit to the Bangladesh tour – Morgan suggested his focus and, as a consequence, his performance might be compromised by the security issues – he defended Morgan’s long-term record and confirmed that he would lead England in the limited-overs series in India after Christmas. Alex Hales also pulled out of the Bangladesh tour.”I’m disappointed that we didn’t take a full squad out to Bangladesh,” Strauss said. “But if I’m honest we’ve moved on and it is right to move on. That was a tour that could have derailed us and undermined a lot of the good work that has gone on. I’m confident it hasn’t done that and that is a relief.”We told the players there wouldn’t be any recriminations for pulling out and when I look back on it I am very grateful that the vast majority of the team thought it was the right thing to do. Those that did go probably strengthened their opinions that it was the right thing to do.”I stand by what I said and there is every reason to expect Eoin Morgan will come back in as captain against India. He’s done a great job with the one-day team over the last 18 months and it has been a phenomenal transformation. He has to take a lot of credit for that and we look forward to him continuing that.”Whether there are long-term consequences for Morgan remains to be seen. While it is clear England are reluctant to make a change to the captaincy ahead of the Champions Trophy in June – they have been down that path before, not least at the 2015 World Cup – it may be that Morgan’s authority has been eroded to the point where he cannot withstand any sustained loss of form. It’s not just that his relationship with his ECB employers is a little more strained than before, it is that Jos Buttler and Joe Root have emerged as viable candidates as leadership replacements.It all means Morgan will arrive in India under more pressure to deliver, in terms of runs and results, than for some time.Cook’s future lies within his own hands. Strauss is clear that he wants him to continue but respects that, after several turbulent years in the job and with a young family to consider, Cook will look no further into the future than the end of each series. As things stand, though, Strauss has received no indication from Cook that his resignation as captain is imminent.”He’s given me no indication that he is thinking of standing down,” Strauss said. “But one thing we’ve consistently done is find time at the end of series to have a conversation about what direction the team is going in, what challenges there are and for him personally and how much the captaincy is taking out of him. We’ve done that a couple of times and it is guaranteed that we’ll have a similar conversation at the end of this series.”From what I’ve seen he is in a really good place. I think he is very comfortable leading this team as he has been for a while now, so it probably takes less out of him now than it used to. He’s batting well, which is a big part of it, and he’s still young. It is quite scary how young his is really and I have every faith that he will carry on past this series and into the summer.”Whether that includes the Ashes remains to be seen. Once the India series is over, Cook will have six months away from the glare of international cricket and, in that time, he will have plenty of time to reflect on his motivations and priorities. There is no indication at all that he is considering retiring as a player: he has said often that he likes the idea of a future as a specialist batsman and without the responsibilities of captaincy.”It is always dangerous to look too far ahead in this game,” Strauss said. “My gut feeling at the moment is that there is benefit in him carrying on past this series definitely. But a lot of it comes down to where he is at and what his motivation is and how the team is developing. We’re sitting here right now and it looks to be in a good place but who knows where we will be in three Tests time or in seven Tests time.”Alastair has still got a lot of cricket left in him whether he is captain or not. Every indication he has given me is, he is driven, he’s passionate, he’s motivated, he’s loving this environment and he’s excited about some of the young players coming through and that is not a bad place for him to be.”Ultimately the decision is about whether Alastair is the right person to take the team forward and if we decide that is not the case then we think about who his replacement is. The first thing we need to ask ourselves is whether it is right to continue and as I’ve said he is in a really good place at the moment.”Strauss also suggested that Saqlain Mushtaq could be offered a much greater coaching role with England. Saqlain, the former Pakistan offspinner, is currently in the middle of a short-term consultancy role which has garnered effusive praise from the team and his fellow coaches. The ECB has already extended the role, and Saqlain is also thought likely to return to India to work with the limited-overs team in January, with Strauss hinting that they are effectively using this series as an extended trial period.”Clearly the development of spin bowlers is really important,” Strauss said. “We’ve got a couple of guys here who are quite young and making their way in the game and we’ve tried to provide them with some support along the way.”We hadn’t worked much with Saqlain before. He did some work in the summer and we wanted to see more of him over the course of this tour.”The indication is that he’s done a good job. He’s a very good people person and he connects well with the bowlers, so that is great and why we want him to work more with us over the winter. At the end of the winter we will sit down and work out what we want to do with our spin bowling and work out the best way of supporting them.”Personally I’m not convinced you need a coach there every single game, but I think you need someone there enough that they develop strong relationships with players and be there at important times in series and on tours.”It is an obvious area we need to have the right support for players in, while also bearing in mind that we don’t want people there for the sake of it. And we also want players to think for themselves and not become too reliant on coaches to do their thinking for them.”

Centurion says his plan was to play his shots after assessing the pitch

Vishal Dikshit05-Mar-20212:43

Bell: This innings the perfect template for the rest of Pant’s career

India faced a first-innings deficit in the fourth Test, slumping to 146 for 6 in reply to England’s 205, but Rishabh Pant powered them to a sizeable lead with his maiden century at home, saying he wanted to play his shots “after assessing the pitch”.Pant walked in at 80 for 4 before Rohit Sharma and R Ashwin fell within the space of nine overs to leave the home side in a precarious position, still 59 adrift of England’s total with only four wickets in hand. Pant salvaged the situation with two contrasting half-centuries: a watchful fifty off 82 balls followed by an attacking 33-ball half-century to race to his hundred. The boundaries began to flow as the second new ball approached, and continued until he reached three figures with a massive six over square leg.Related

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“I like to play according to the situation and I just see the ball and react to it, that’s the USP of my cricket,” Pant told the host broadcaster Star Sports after the second day’s play. “I thought after assessing the pitch I’m going to play my shots. Sometimes when the bowler is bowling well, like the other day, you have to give credit to the bowler also, and respect the ball. [If] you get a good ball, just look for a single or defend it.”Pant was on 55 off 91 with just three overs left for the second new ball, when he switched gears by collecting two fours in an over against both Ben Stokes and Joe Root. On 75 and on strike against the new ball, he then hammered James Anderson for consecutive fours before unleashing an audacious reverse-lap two overs later against the same bowler that powered him into the 90s.