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Mumbai forced Odisha to follow on after dismissing the remaining seven first-innings wickets in the first half of the fourth day, but lacked energy later on as Odisha managed 115 for 2 by stumps

The Report by Devashish Fuloria in Mumbai16-Dec-2013
ScorecardFile photo: Natraj Behera (right) was Odisha’s sole source of resistance in the first innings•K SivaramanMumbai forced Odisha to follow on after dismissing the remaining seven first-innings wickets in the first half of the fourth day, but lacked energy later on as Odisha reached 115 for 2 at stumps. Both wickets went to Pravin Tambe after he switched ends. The debutant legspinner had bowled 14 wicket-less overs till then from the press-box end.Govind Podder had cruised to 42, and Odisha to 83, when he edged Tambe to the wicketkeeper to give him his maiden first-class wicket. Eight overs later, Girjia Rout yorked himself as he charged down the pitch to be stumped for 43 as Tambe found better control in his last spell of 10-5-22-2, after struggling to find the right length earlier. He was cheered on from friends and family in the MCA pavilion, right behind him.However, first-innings centurion Natraj Behera ensured that Odisha ended the day without further loss. They now need 130 more runs to make Mumbai bat again, and possibly, stop the home team from taking points for an outright win.Odisha, though, would be haunted by their first-innings batting performance. On a flat pitch, their batsmen’s inclination for aggression went against them. In the morning, Abhilash Mallick tried to clip a shortish ball from off stump to the leg side, but got a leading edge to mid-on. Biplab Samantray, the Odisha captain, appeared extremely comfortable during his 34-ball 39, but pulled straight into the hands of deep square leg.Apart from Natraj, and Basant Mohanty, no one showed the will to stay in the middle for long. Natraj conceded that the batsmen were dismissed playing rash shots and added, “It’s rare that we get a wicket like this. In the last three years, I have not played on a batting track like this. The batsmen got excited and tried to score too many, and made mistakes.”But unlike others, Natraj carried on to his second successive Ranji century with a calm clip to midwicket. It was only one of the 22 runs he ran, as he smashed 24 fours and two sixes in his 184-ball stay.In one Vishal Dabholkar over, he hit two sixes and two fours to scamper to 89. Tambe was introduced in the 26th over of the morning, but he was hit through point for a couple of boundaries. Natraj then reached his fifth first-class century, off his 144th delivery, in Tambe’s next over. He was finally dismissed for 130, caught behind off Javed Khan, after a 77-run stand with Mohanty.Bowling with a rejigged run-up – which he attributed to Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan – Javed was the leader of the seam attack that accounted for eight of the ten wickets.”Paaji [Sachin Tendulkar] and Zaheer helped me with my bowling,” Javed said. “After the first match, they said if you reduce your run-up, it will help you get control and better rhythm in your bowling. I have been consistently working on that aspect.”Since most of Mumbai’s success has come through pace, Javed will have a big role to play if Mumbai are to wrap this tie up early on the fourth day.

Alastair Cook admitted England had hit “rock bottom” after their Ashes whitewash but believes the team came recover from the humiliation

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jan-20140:00

‘I’m desperate to turn things around’ – Cook

Alastair Cook admitted England had hit “rock bottom” after their Ashes whitewash but believes the team can recover from the humiliation.England’s final innings of the series ended in just 31.4 overs as Australia wrapped up a 281-run victory within three days; the other margins in this series were 381 runs, 218 runs, 150 runs and eight wickets.”When you hit rock bottom the only way is up,” he said at the presentation. “It happened in 2006-07 and things turned round with a lot of hard work and a lot of dedication to the cause.”We have to look at ourselves, look at where we want to go. We have a huge amount of talent in England. We haven’t shown it in these five games. There’s a lot of courage in the dressing room which will need to come out now.””It’s tough knowing you’ve played in five games and been beaten badly in five games. As a sportsman that’s the hardest thing to take. We left everything out there but we weren’t good enough. We weren’t good enough to turn it round.”We tried to change the way we played but you’ve got to give credit to Michael [Clarke] and his team, anything we could throw at them they responded incredibly well and they thoroughly deserve their 5-0 win.”England’s recovery after the previous whitewash in 2006-07 took time. A few months later Duncan Fletcher, the coach, quit after the World Cup to be replaced by Peter Moores although captain Michael Vaughan, who had missed the Ashes due to injury, carried on until the 2008 series against South Africa. The partnership between Moores and Kevin Pietersen only lasted four months and it was when Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower joined forces in early 2009 that improvements began to be made.Alastair Cook experienced his second Ashes whitewash in Australia•Getty ImagesCook wants to be the captain to try and lead the recovery and is eager to work alongside Flower, who yesterday was given the support of the ECB from chief executive David Collier.”I want to be the man to try to turn this round. Whether I’m given the opportunity is not my decision but I want to try.”One thing we can say we’ve done well is stuck together. At times like this factions can corner off in the dressing room and there can be a lot of backstabbing but I can safely say that hasn’t happened.”But the bottom line is out in the middle is where it counts. If you look back at 2006-07, it made me take a good look at my game, it made us have a real look at ourselves as an England team and a lot of good came from it. I have a feeling this will be good for us in the long term.”

ESPNcricinfo’s preview of the fifth Ashes Test between Australia and England at the SCG

The Preview by Brydon Coverdale02-Jan-2014Match factsJanuary 3-7, Sydney Cricket Ground
Start time 1030 (2330 GMT)Big PictureBefore this series began, the odds of a 5-0 win to Australia were about the same as of Bangladesh winning next year’s World Cup. But Michael Clarke’s men enter the Sydney Test on the verge of completing a clean sweep. England came to Australia with the Ashes in their possession and a sense of stability around their squad. Whatever happens over the next five days, they will leave these shores without the urn and without any real idea of how to fix their problems.Graeme Swann has retired mid-tour, the vice-captain Matt Prior has been dropped, Jonathan Trott has spent most of the series at home, their only centurion has been the new boy Ben Stokes, they don’t have a batsman in the top five series run scorers, they have only one bowler averaging under 30. They’re a rabble, and even if they avoid a 5-0 defeat this result should hurt more than the 2006-07 clean sweep, for that was against champions like Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Adam Gilchrist.This Australian outfit has been cobbled together after a period of retirements, experiments and abandonments. In recent years, Australia’s Test team has been changed as often as a baby’s nappy and sometimes produced similar results. That was certainly the case in India in February-March, when they were humiliated 4-0 on the field and embarrassed off it. Their success in this Ashes campaign is all the sweeter for it. It remains possible that Australia may take the same XI into all five Tests in the series, which would be a first.Not every question has been answered for the Australians, who have a three-Test tour of South Africa in a month’s time. Most notably, the No.6 position occupied in this series by George Bailey could be up for grabs after this series. If Bailey plays at the SCG and fails, he can hardly be retained. Whatever happens, though, this squad has achieved everything that was asked of it. Australia have the Ashes and will get their hands on the (replica) urn after this Sydney Test. It’s now just a question of 5-0, 4-0 or 4-1.Mitchell Johnson has a chance of breaking the record for most wickets in a five-match Ashes series by an Australian fast bowler•PA PhotosForm guideAustralia: WWWWD
England: LLLLD
Players to watchBefore the Ashes began, Michael Clarke predicted that Mitchell Johnson could be the Player of the Series, so well was he bowling. Brad Haddin has a strong claim to the award but it will take something remarkable for Johnson not to win it. Already he has been Man of the Match in three of the four Tests. Johnson has 31 wickets for the series and he needs only four more to break the Australian record for most wickets by a fast bowler in a five-Test Ashes, and seven to break Bill Whitty’s record of 37 for most by an Australian fast bowler in any five-Test series, set against South Africa in 1910-11. Clarrie Grimmett’s all-time Australian record of 44 wickets in a series is probably safe, but the way Johnson is going, nothing is certain.Last week, Scott Borthwick was getting ready to head off to Sri Lanka with England Lions after his stint with the Sydney grade side Northern District. Now, he’s almost certain of making his Test debut at the SCG. Swann’s retirement, combined with a calf injury sustained by Monty Panesar at training, should mean Borthwick is given a chance at Test level. Borthwick has four first-class centuries to his name but unlike Australians such as Steven Smith and Cameron White, he considers himself a legspinner who can bat a bit. If he plays, Borthwick will be the fourth spinner used by England in the space of six Tests, after Swann, Panesar and Simon Kerrigan.Team newsIt is not out of the realms of possibility that Australia will play the same XI for the fifth consecutive Test and there is a strong push from the players to complete the series with the team intact. Shane Watson’s groin niggle and Ryan Harris’ general soreness could be the catalysts for conservatism, with a South African Test tour in a month. Nathan Coulter-Nile will be a direct replacement for Harris if he is ruled out, while Watson’s ability to bowl may determine whether James Faulkner and No.3 Alex Doolan play, and thus whether Bailey can retain his spot. But there would be something very special about completing a 5-0 win with only 11 players, and it may yet happen.Australia (possible) 1 Chris Rogers, 2 David Warner, 3 Shane Watson, 4 Michael Clarke (capt), 5 Steven Smith, 6 George Bailey, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Peter Siddle, 10 Ryan Harris, 11 Nathan Lyon.”Yes, we could do. Certainly there will be some changes,” Alastair Cook said when asked if England might play three debutants at the SCG. Such a scenario might have seemed laughable before the series but it’s now anyone’s guess what England’s best XI is. Gary Ballance is likely to be included, given England’s poor batting throughout the series, and it might be that Michael Carberry makes way with Joe Root to move up to open and Ian Bell to No.3. The legspinning allrounder Borthwick would also strengthen England’s batting if he replaces Panesar, while Boyd Rankin could be given a chance at the expense of Tim Bresnan. But, really, who would know?England (possible) 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Joe Root, 3 Ian Bell, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Gary Ballance, 6 Ben Stokes, 7 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 8 Scott Borthwick, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 James Anderson, 11 Boyd Rankin.Pitch and conditionsTwo days out from the match, the pitch appeared to have more grass on it than a normal Sydney surface and it is expected to offer some assistance for the fast bowlers. The forecast throughout the match ranges from 22C to 27C with the possibility of occasional light showers, but rain shouldn’t play too much of a part.Stats and trivia Should Australia win in Sydney it will complete their third 5-0 Ashes clean sweep, after 1920-21 and 2006-07 If Australia name an unchanged side it will be the first time they have ever used the same XI throughout a five-Test series In the event of a draw or an Australian win, Australia will jump from fifth to third on the ICC Test rankings and England would drop from third to fourth. An England win would leave England third and Australia would move up from fifth to fourthQuotes”Experiencing the highs and lows has made us stronger as a team and that’s why you see everyone so excited when we’ve won, because we have been through such a long, lean patch. It is certainly a nice change.”
“When we left England, we had high hopes of doing something very special. I did say at the time, we’d have to play some very good cricket if we wanted to achieve that and we haven’t done that.”

ESPNcricinfo previews the second Test between New Zealand and India in Wellington

The Preview by Sidharth Monga13-Feb-2014Match factsFebruary 14-18, 2014
Start time 1100 local (2200 GMT, previous day)Since his debut hundred, Hamish Rutherford has scored just one fifty in 10 Tests•Getty ImagesBig PictureTwo of India’s last three Tests have been bona fide classics. On both occasions, they had victory snatched from their grasp by the old boys of Affies, a high school in Pretoria. A bit of luck here, a bit of magic there, and India might have registered two of their more famous Test wins. Instead they have question marks against them away from home. They have been much better than they were on their last miserable leg of cricket outside Asia – in England and in Australia – but the numbers are stacking up. At some point, players will start doubting themselves, they will begin to wonder just what it will take to win away from home; they have set South Africa a target of more than 450 yet couldn’t close, they have bowled New Zealand out for 105 yet lost. They will wonder if they have forgotten how to win and if they don’t at Basin Reserve, India will have put together, at 11 international matches, their joint-longest winless streak since West Indies came looking for revenge for their World Cup final defeat in 1983.New Zealand are looking at a happier streak. All through this series they have threatened to squander winning positions, but have somehow got stuck in towards the end to keep winning. In their Test history, they have won four Tests in a row only once, but that included two wins against Zimbabwe in 2005. Having won the last two of the series against West Indies, and then in Auckland last week, New Zealand are on the cusp of achieving something memorable. There are already murmurs comparing this team to the three other consistently successful eras in New Zealand history: the days of Richard Hadlee, Martin Crowe and Stephen Fleming.If they are to win the four in a row, New Zealand will have to do it without one of their two best batsmen of the season: Ross Taylor will be away for the birth of his child. In all likelihood, though, they will have conditions to their liking again. The last time they played in Wellington, they rolled over West Indies on a green top. This time, too, it is difficult to tell the pitch from the square. Moreover, there has been rain during the week leading into the Test, so there will be moisture retained.Form guideNew Zealand (last five completed matches, most recent first) WWWDD
India LLDWW
In the spotlightThe New Zealand openers have got a lifeline, but that rope must be getting shorter. Since his debut hundred, Hamish Rutherford has scored just one fifty in 10 Tests. The way he got out both times at Eden Park might also worry them.The Indian quicks displayed their worst, and their rare best, at Eden Park, but they will need to watch against what happened in South Africa where they were so exhausted from their effort at Wanderers that the intensity was visibly down at Kingsmead.Teams newsTwo caps will be handed out by New Zealand. Tom Latham will debut in Taylor’s absence, and they have also assessed that on this green pitch they will need an extra seamer so Jimmy Neesham will also get a taste of Test cricket. With Neesham, the batting order will look longer too.New Zealand 1 Peter Fulton, 2 Hamish Rutherford, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Tom Latham, 5 Brendon McCullum (capt.), 6 Corey Anderson, 7 Jimmy Neesham, 8 BJ Watling (wk), 9 Tim Southee, 10 Neil Wagner, 11 Trent BoultIndia are unlikely to change their XI. Even if the wicket is a carpet of grass, they won’t want to play four quicks: the last time they did, MS Dhoni was banned for poor over-rate.India 1 M Vijay, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Rohit Sharma, 6 Ajinkya Rahane, 7 MS Dhoni (capt. & wk), 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Ishant SharmaPitch and conditionsOver to Brett Sipthorpe, the groundsman: “I don’t expect they [India] will be too happy when they see that. It has had good pace and bounce in it this summer, and basically we are aiming for exactly what we had for the West Indies one. That was nice and bouncy, and had a little bit of nip around, which suits the seamers.” On the eve of the match though, the grass appeared a little thinner. The weather forecast is good. There hasn’t been any rain since Wednesday morning and we shouldn’t have any disturbances during the match.Stats and trivia India have now lost more away Tests under Dhoni than any other captain. His win-loss ratio of 0.45, though, is much better than the captain he just went past, Mohammad Azharuddin. Rahul Dravid’s 1.25 remains the best away win-loss ratio for an Indian captain. Brendon McCullum is 91 short of becoming only the fourth New Zealander to 5000 Test runs. In New Zealand’s last three Tests, quick bowlers have taken 59 of the 60 wickets. Sodhi took the 60th, that of No. 11 Tino Best, in Hamilton. Among bowlers that have taken 150 wickets for India, Ishant Sharma’s strike-rate is better than six spinners, including three from the famous quartet, but his average is better than only Ravi Shastri. Also, his strike-rate is worst among the four quicks that have reached the landmark for India.Quotes”It is a new team, young players who have got five-six matches under their belt. Of course, It takes a bit of time. Last Test we played, we fought back really nicely and even in the last innings, we batted really nicely. There are a lot of positives to take from the last match and it is building our confidence and our strength.”

Haroon Lorgat has been cleared of allegations that he had knowledge of the controversial FTP statement about the ICC Board by David Becker, a former legal consultant to CSA, and helped prepare it

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Mar-2014Haroon Lorgat, the Cricket South Africa chief executive, has been cleared of allegations that he had knowledge of the controversial statement about the ICC Board and the FTP by David Becker, the ICC’s former legal head, and helped prepare it. Lorgat was also exonerated, by an independent adjudicator appointed by the ICC, of the charge that he had allegedly tried to bribe and threaten journalists.As a result, any restrictions on Lorgat’s ability to act as CSA chief executive were removed. He can now resume acting as the board’s representative on the ICC Chief Executive’s Committee and deal with affairs involving the BCCI.”With this unsavoury matter now behind us I look forward to getting on with the real challenges that we need to deal with,” Lorgat said. “It was a costly but necessary exercise once the allegations were made. I am pleased it is now behind us and I must thank my Board for their unequivocal support plus the many other people, including members of the public, who stood firm with me during this period.”ICC president Alan Isaac said: “The ICC notes and accepts the decision of the independent adjudicator. We are pleased that the matter has been resolved and that all parties can now move on in a spirit of mutual cooperation, working together constructively for the good of cricket.”CSA President Chris Nenzani said: “This is as clear as it gets and vindicates CSA and Mr. Lorgat’s determination that the investigation be properly concluded following recent offers to drop the investigation. It is only fair and just for both CSA and to Mr. Lorgat that the process was properly concluded.”As we expected, all the allegations have been dismissed and the Board would like to reiterate its full trust and confidence in Mr. Lorgat as its Chief Executive. To date the Board has been satisfied and indeed impressed with the progress made under his leadership.”In October 2013, Becker had suggested that the BCCI’s flouting of the FTP could have legal implications and that it was “improper” to allow a member body to “blatantly disregard an ICC resolution”. Becker revealed he resigned from his ICC post because of what he considered “questionable governance” at the ICC and listed three examples, all relating to the “dominance of BCCI President N Srinivasan”. The ICC then commissioned an inquiry into Lorgat’s alleged role in that statement but did not disclose who constituted the inquiry committee.

The PCB has agreed to the proposed ICC revamp on the condition that it will be a part of bilateral series against all Full Members, including India, over the next eight years

Umar Farooq11-Apr-2014The PCB has agreed to the proposed ICC revamp on the condition that it will be a part of bilateral series against all Full Members, including India, over the next eight years. The PCB’s chairman justified his move, reasoning that Pakistan can’t afford to be isolated from the rest of cricketing world, most of which had agreed to the wide-ranging changes suggested.The PCB, according to its chairman, will gain estimated Rs 30 billion (around $310m) in next eight years from the bilateral agreements.”Decision was made after sensing an isolation,” Sethi told a media conference at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. “If we don’t play big teams we could be bankrupt in the next two years so we have to stay in line and play our home series with India. Because our infrastructure is mainly run with the money generated playing international cricket, it’s very important to play India because it generate major chunk of money. We have to run our cricket and we can’t sit out being isolated. Hence we had to go with them but we signed with all legal binding documents and the details of all fixtures will be released soon.”Sethi has also revealed that the world governing board have asked PCB to nominate a candidate from Pakistan for the ceremonial role of ICC president next year.The PCB is the last Full Member to have extended its support to the governance, finance and FTP changes in the ICC, which were proposed by the BCCI, the ECB and Cricket Australia in February. When the changes, which increase the power of those three boards within the ICC, were first proposed, four Full Members had come out against them: the PCB, the Bangladesh Cricket Board, Cricket South Africa (CSA) and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). The proposals have since been revised and were approved by eight of the Full Members on February 8. SLC and the PCB were the only two to refrain from voting at that meeting, and SLC extended its support to the revamp 10 days later.The PCB had been opposing the position paper right from the start, citing that the revamp is against the principle of “equality” and had been objecting the proposal as whole. “Since January we understand that various factors have been toned down but we lost the ground and our position was weak enough to crumble but PCB stood hard and we managed to get more than enough. I am happy that we are back in business otherwise nobody was ready to talk to Pakistan and they were chalking their own bilateral tour with the exception of Pakistan cricket.”Since July 2013, Pakistan have been without a long-term broadcasting deal, one of the major sources of income for the PCB. With no series scheduled against India until 2020, there could be testing times for the board ahead which is already dealing with a long-standing budget-deficit. In August 2013, the deficit was nearly 500 million Pakistani rupees.”Now PCB is in a position to go with a long-term deal next year and we have estimated an amount of Rs. 30 billions with our home series after every board have assured a slot in next eight-year cycle. Apart from the broadcasting rights we will be getting a share of ICC tournament, which has been increased from 0.3 to 1.3 per cent. So at the end of the day we have good news for our cricket.”

Exactly 40 years after the death of Adge Cutler, Somerset is still permeating the national consciousness – thanks to its cricketers

Alex Winter at Taunton06-May-2014
ScorecardPeter Trego awoke the crowd from their slumbers•Getty ImagesTwo matches into a new season and questions are already being raised about the quality of the Taunton wickets. Responding to a high-scoring draw against Yorkshire in the opening match, more grass was left on the pitch for this fixture but another tame draw is the overwhelming favourite after a third day where any buzz was limited to an hour after lunch.Only 24 wickets fell against Yorkshire and just 21 have been taken in three days here, proving more than a little grass will be required to overcome the flat, hard nature of this square that has often weighed matches at Taunton too heavily in the batsmen’s favour, to the detriment of the contest.It is easy to nestle into the cinema chairs in the Old Pavilion, gaze up at the Quantocks, pick out a Great Spotted Woodpecker that may have fluttered across from the hills and assume all is well with the world. But the glorious surrounds can mask a deficiency on the field. The cricket has be none too engaging in this match.Several years ago during the Brian Rose regime, remedial work was undertaken on the square and in 2010 Somerset managed four victories at home. It was surely no coincidence that 2010 was the closest Somerset have ever come to winning the County Championship.For 2014, a solid survival in the Division One is a more realistic aim than a title challenge. But Somerset will struggle to improve on their three victories last season if obtaining results at home remains this difficult. In both matches this season Marcus Trescothick has won the toss and bowled first hoping a fresh surface will offer the most help for his bowlers, safe in the knowledge the fourth day will not hold gremlins for his batsmen – and so it should prove here; Nottinghamshire do not hold a serious spin threat either having decided not to pick Gary Keedy.Trescothick also gave his side a chance of putting Notts under pressure by declaring 38 runs behind shortly after lunch. But despite a testing new ball spell from Alfonso Thomas, they only managed one wicket with the new ball and Phil Jaques led them professionally into the clear.But the declaration upped the ante and for 14 overs of the Notts second innings, there was an intensity not seen since the first morning. Thomas was unwavering, bowling five maidens in his seven over spell, and zipped the new ball around to create plenty of problems. An inswinger deceived Steven Mullaney who shouldered arms and was given out lbw and Michael Lumb was very fortunate to survive playing the same stroke to the first ball Thomas tried around the wicket.From the other end though, Lewis Gregory leaked over four runs an over and despite Jamie Overton roughing up Jaques and Lumb, he failed to find a breakthrough. It wasn’t until Lumb tried cutting a Johann Myburgh quicker ball that Somerset struck again; probably too late to change the game.Preceding the declaration, Somerset snuck maximum batting points to the final ball of the 110th over. 64 were required in 61 balls after lunch and Peter Trego, who bludgeoned 86 in 71 balls, and Thomas gamely took up the task.Trego struck two fours off Peter Siddle to take him to fifty in 49 balls before depositing Patel into the river to give Somerset a fourth batting point. 29 were then required in three overs for a fifth. Another six found the Trescothick stand before Thomas delightfully flicked Andy Carter past square leg and Trego slugged another four through cow corner. Thomas was left with two to find to bring up 400 in time and he drove Patel delightfully just over the head of long-off to secure the extra point.Earlier in the day, Craig Kieswetter followed a disappointing first effort with the gloves – two dropped catches – with a poor dismissal after he had made 39. With neither Matt Prior nor Johnny Bairstow having kept wicket this season, alternatives must surely be sounded out. Kieswetter timed two flicks off his legs and also drove a boundary but failed to put up an eye-catching score when the game situation was ideal for such an innings.Having been dropped at second slip by Mullaney – his second shell of the innings, although he did claim a flying catch at mid-on to remove Gregory – a toe-ended pat to give Patel a return catch was a weak way to end what has so far been a disappointing match for a potential England wicketkeeper.

Billy Bowden is back on the elite panel of ICC umpires for 2014-15

ESPNcricinfo staff01-May-2014Billy Bowden is back on the elite panel of ICC umpires for 2014-15. Bowden is the only change to the panel following the ICC’s annual review and selection process, and has replaced fellow New Zealander Tony Hill, who had stepped down earlier this year to become the New Zealand Cricket umpire coach.Bowden previously served on the elite panel from 2003 to 2013 and has so far umpired in 76 Tests, 189 ODIs and 21 T20 internationals. He was dropped from the panel in June 2013 but was later announced as one of the on-field umpires for the third Ashes Test in Perth and the TV umpire for the fourth Test in Melbourne.The elite panel was selected by a group chaired by Geoff Allardice, the ICC general manager – cricket, Ranjan Madugalle, the ICC chief match referee, David Lloyd, the former England player, coach and umpire and Srinivas Venkataraghavan, the former India captain and international umpire.”Billy’s return to the elite panel is a result of his hard work and perseverance,” Allardice said. “His skills and experience will further strengthen the ICC umpiring team.”Elite panel of ICC umpires: Aleem Dar, Billy Bowden, Kumar Dharmasena, Steve Davis, Marais Erasmus, Ian Gould, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nigel Llong, Bruce Oxenford, Paul Reiffel, Rod Tucker

Half-centuries from Tim Ambrose and Rikki Clarke built on previous good work by William Porterfield but Lancashire wiped out the deficit by the end of the day

Paul Edwards at Edgbaston10-Jun-2014
ScorecardTim Ambrose helped Warwickshire to build a slim first-innings lead•Getty ImagesBuilding an innings is as much a collective enterprise as an individual skill. As Warwickshire’s lower middle order and tail played with enterprise and elan to take their side past Lancashire’s total early on the third afternoon of this game, perhaps few in the Edgbaston crowd reckoned that William Porterfield’s self-denying vigil the previous day had very much to do with their side’s prosperity. The late belligerence shown by the visiting openers seemed to reinforce the anomalous nature of Porterfield’s batting.After all, the opener had perished in the fifth over of the morning, cutting Tom Smith to gully after adding only six to his overnight score. Subsequently Tim Ambrose and Rikki Clarke had made fifties in less than half the time taken by Porterfield in an innings which, had it been set to music, might have been entitled .Surely Ambrose and Clarke’s aggression had exposed the negativity of Porterfield’s approach, the argument ran, conveniently overlooking the fact that Warwickshire’s opener had been batting, for the most part, with Sam Hain, who was playing his third first-class innings, and Laurie Evans and Ateeq Javid, whose Championship averages this season are not a source of pride to their loved ones.Slow, Porterfield certainly was. Stuck in a rut? Yes, that as well. Indeed, his entire 198-ball innings was a 284-minute rut. But his effort gave later batsmen a base from which they could play with the freedom characteristic of their own styles and they did this with considerable success against a faltering Lancashire attack suddenly presented with a different set of problems.Ambrose was the first to unveil his attacking strokes, cover-driving Kabir Ali for a boundary and reaching his half-century in 84 balls with a cut off Glen Chapple. As the tempo increased, so the nature of the contest changed, and the crowd was further encouraged by the news that both Jim Troughton and Jonathan Trott were playing for Warwickshire’s second team at Coventry.Rather than facilitating a breakthrough, the new ball disappeared to all parts, as new balls sometimes do when batsmen screw their courage to the sticking place. At lunch Warwickshire were 234 for 5 and the spectators were eager for more of the same, thank you very much.In this hope they were disappointed. Ambrose was lbw was playing all around a swinging delivery from Kyle Hogg and Clarke followed five overs later, bowled round his legs when attempting to sweep Simon Kerrigan.Jeetan Patel could only swipe Hogg across the line to Alex Davies at midwicket and after Kerrigan had cleaned up Chris Wright, it needed the vaudevillian entertainment of a last wicket stand between Keith Barker and Boyd Rankin to extend the home side’s lead to 36. When Smith bowled Rankin for 12, Barker was left unbeaten on 44, having reinforced his reputation as one of the circuit’s most useful players.For most counties in most conditions, wiping out such a modest first-innings lead is a task of little difficulty. But it was still heartening for the oft-tormented visiting supporters to see Paul Horton and Davies do the job in just four overs with Davies glancing Barker for four and then hooking him dextrously for six over one of Edgbaston’s longer boundaries. Indeed, aided by the inaccuracy of Varun Chopra’s seamers – Patel was on at the City End in the seventh over – Lancashire’s openers had added a run-a-ball 54 at tea.Some reports indicated that Edgbaston was then about to suffer the sort of rain last seen when visited on the sinful in Leviticus. However, while the restart was delayed for 90 minutes, the early evening saw a further 16 overs’ play, more than enough time for Colonel and Mrs Cockup to pay one of their visits to a Red Rose innings. Instead, though, Davies and Horton extended their partnership to 71, Lancashire’s highest first-wicket stand of the season, before Davies was lbw for 30 playing no shot to Patel. Horton was then caught behind for 42 in the penultimate over of the day when playing some way from his body to a good ball from Rankin.Lancashire’s lead is, therefore, 48 and Patel is getting plenty of turn from the City End. We could yet be set for a dramatic dénouement, although that is unlikely to be achieved by way of the visitors declaring. Rumour has it that the last Lancashire skipper to gamble was playing baccarat with Ian Fleming.

Australia have made a dramatic move in their attempts to improve their spin credentials in Asian conditions, hiring Muttiah Muralitharan as a coaching consultant for this year’s Test series against Pakistan in the UAE

Brydon Coverdale18-Jun-20143:58

Coverdale: ‘Majority of Australians quite like Murali’

Australia have made a dramatic move in their attempts to improve their spin credentials in Asian conditions, hiring Muttiah Muralitharan as a coaching consultant for this year’s Test series against Pakistan in the UAE. And while Muralitharan has no intention of turning Nathan Lyon into a master of the doosra, he is already helping Lyon add a carrom ball to his arsenal.The two men have been working together in Sri Lanka this week and Muralitharan said he was confident Lyon would be ready to deliver the carrom ball to Pakistan’s batsmen in the Test series in October. But the appointment of Muralitharan for the short-term role is not only about helping Lyon but also equipping Australia’s batsmen to face Saeed Ajmal and the Pakistan spinners.Australia’s most recent Test tour in Asia was their disastrous campaign in India early last year, when they lost 4-0 and struggled to handle to R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in turning conditions. The penetration of their own spinners was also a weakness throughout the tour, although it was not helped by Lyon being dropped mid-series and replaced by Glenn Maxwell and Xavier Doherty.Lyon returned for the final Test in Delhi and picked up nine wickets for the match, and since then has moved on to have 112 victims at 32.99 from his 33 Test appearances. Muralitharan said Lyon was clearly Australia’s best spin option and he expected him to be able to deliver the occasional carrom ball in the UAE this year before mastering it in years to come.”In a country like Australia, you don’t need many spinners, you need to get the right one,” Muralitharan said. “I think Nathan Lyon is the answer, for any format. He spins the ball, he is confident, he has done well and taken more than 100 wickets in Test cricket. Australia has to persevere with him and then fill the backups.”The doosra is very difficult to teach. We are trying something else, like a carrom ball … He is a finger-spinner, I am a wrist-spinner. For a wrist-spinner to change the wrist position is easy. But for a finger-spinner to change the wrist position to bowl the doosra is harder. So it would be difficult.”He’s already starting to bowl the carrom ball. So that is the easiest way for the finger-spinners to learn … I think he’ll be ready. He will bowl a few balls in the UAE and he will master it in years to come.”Muralitharan has been working not only with Lyon but also several of Australia’s emerging spinners in Sri Lanka this week, including James Muirhead and Clive Rose. But his role in the UAE will also include bowling to Australia’s batsmen in the nets in an attempt to get them accustomed to the style of Ajmal, who is the highest-ranked spinner on the ICC’s bowling rankings and will enjoy the conditions greatly.”I’m not a good batsman so I can’t give many tips to batsmen, but the thing I can do is that I’m still good enough to bowl to the batsmen,” Muralitharan said. “Myself and Ajmal are a little bit similar. We are bowling doosras and offspin, so they might learn from batting in the nets, rather than me trying to teach them. I can’t teach batting.”Muralitharan said he was confident he would have the support of the vast majority of Australian cricket fans despite his history with the country, which was dominated by his being no-balled for throwing in the 1995 Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. His relationship with Australia has improved significantly and he was one of the most popular overseas players in the BBL during his time with the Melbourne Renegades.His appointment has continued the push by coach Darren Lehmann to have specialists assist the team at strategic times, as when Shane Warne provided spin advice in South Africa this year.”Muttiah Muralitharan is a true great of the game and his involvement with the Australian team will bring enormous benefits,” Lehmann said. “He really understands the conditions we’ll face and will be able to impart a great amount of knowledge. Not only will he help guide our spinners during that tour, but he will also work with our batsmen to help them prepare to play Pakistan’s dangerous spin bowlers.”As we’ve shown in recent times we’ll bring in dedicated skill-specific coaching consultants to our support staff as and when we see fit. That means having more regular support from technical experts to help work on specific areas of performance.”Most recently we had Shane Warne join us in South Africa, and throughout the Australian summer we had a range of former Australian players around the team during the Test series to help impart specialist knowledge. This time around we are fortunate enough to have Muttiah work with us.”