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Australia’s Ashes selectors Rod Marsh and Darren Lehmann indicated to Michael Clarke that Peter Nevill was set to retain his place for the third Test at Edgbaston before they told Brad Haddin they had not yet made a decision, the former captain has revealed.In his released this week, Clarke writes critically of several elements of Australia’s selection policies during the failed Ashes campaign. But it is his recollection of conversations around the Derby tour match between the second and third Tests that will raise the most pointed questions about the role played by Marsh and Lehmann in the team’s topsy-turvy results.It has previously been reported that Haddin had to front Marsh and Lehmann at training in Derby to get a straight answer from them about the decision to retain Nevill, after the older man had missed the Lord’s Test to spend time with his ill daughter, Mia. Clarke has gone further by stating he was aware which way the selectors were likely to go before they were prepared to tell Haddin themselves.

‘Not sure I’ve loved cricket the same way’

Michael Clarke has admitted the death of Phillip Hughes affected him so much that he no longer loved cricket the same way, and sorely missed his friend’s enthusiasm for the game during the Ashes tour.
“I never thought Hughesy’s death would affect me as much as it has for so long,” Clarke wrote in his . “Don’t get me wrong – it’s not like I wanted to walk out of the funeral and forget about him or get on with my life as if nothing had happened. But when it did happen, for me it was about the responsibilities I had as captain to do the right thing by his family, team-mates, friends and, given the public response, the whole country.
“I don’t think I had time to grieve personally. Maybe that was a mistake, because now that I think about it, since his death, I’m not sure I’ve loved cricket in the same way.
“Hughesy and I would talk two weeks in advance of a tour about how pumped we were to go away together. He’d be in Adelaide playing for South Australia and I’d be in Sydney or travelling around. Whether it was the Ashes in 2013 or last year to South Africa or the UAE to play Pakistan, he just loved it. ‘How good’s this? We’re back on tour again!’ he’d say. On this trip I’ve really missed that.”

“I spoke to Rod Marsh and Darren Lehmann before the match started and told them it would be helpful to know which one they’re intending to pick for the next Test,” Clarke wrote, “because, whoever it was, I’d get them behind the stumps in the first innings and bat them up the order. These games are all about preparing for the Tests, and our Test keeper needed match practice. Rod and Boof hadn’t decided for sure, but were leaning pretty strongly towards Nev. They didn’t want to change a winning side from Lord’s.”At training, I was batting in the nets when Hadds walked up to Rod and asked him which keeper was going to play the Test. I was close by, but I walked away, hoping Rod might tell Hadds what he’d told me, that they preferred Nev for Edgbaston. But he didn’t. He told Hadds no decision had been made, that he’d get back to him.”Hadds wasn’t happy with that, so he walked straight up to Boof, who said the same thing – that the selectors hadn’t decided. So Hadds asked Boof straight out, as a selector, who he was going for. And Boof looked him straight in the eye and said he wanted Nev to play.”The decision to retain Nevill over Haddin was a source of considerable disquiet during the series, with several players questioning the consistency of the call after Lehmann’s strong insistence that family was a major priority for the team under his watch. A meeting was later called for senior players to discuss the issue with Lehmann, the first time they and the coach had been at odds since he took over from Mickey Arthur two years before.Clarke has also suggested that the selectors erred by not considering the balance of Australia’s bowling unit during the Ashes, and that persisting with Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnson together meant that neither left-armer could bowl at his best against England. One of Clarke’s recurring statements as captain was that a winning team needed to pick the best attack as opposed to the best four bowlers, and he does not think this was the case during the Ashes.”When you choose a cricket team, you have to remember that bowling is not an individual task: the best bowling is done in pairs, and as a group,” Clarke wrote. “For most of the tour we picked the three best-available fast bowlers in Australia, and after Ryan Harris retired, those were Johnson, Starc and Hazlewood. That doesn’t necessarily add up to the best bowling attack – for the conditions, for the opposition you’re playing against, or for the sake of balance.”I think both Johnson and Starc are aggressive, attacking strike weapons who can leak runs but will take wickets. You need at least one of them in your team. The question is, for balance, do you want both, especially as they’re both lefties? Probably not, in seaming English conditions. In an ideal world, in the future maybe, you could play them both. In fairness to them, it might’ve helped if we had more runs on the board.”I know as a captain I can use that one left-hander better if I have more consistency around him. I think I showed that in the home Ashes when I had Harris, Siddle and Shane Watson as my consistent, control bowlers and I was able to use Johnson in short, fiery bursts. He was unstoppable.”It is now clear that the selectors were wrong-footed by the injury-enforced retirement of Ryan Harris before the series. However Clarke said that the Australian team and its selectors had to learn from events of 2015 if they were to prosper next time around – chiefly by choosing a more balanced XI. The retirement of Mitchell Johnson this week means that the choice between the two attacking left-armers no longer needs to be made.”I just hope that Australian cricket learns from this experience, because in four years’ time they’ll need to do things differently if they’re going to win here,” Clarke wrote. “It’s not just bowling as a group and having a balanced attack – it goes for the whole team.”You can’t keep thinking, ‘Well, these are the best 11 cricket players in the country and they will play all around the world all the time.’ Certain batters and certain bowlers are better in certain conditions. You pick players for their role in the national team, because their role is different when they play for Australia. I think the selection messages around that have become a bit confused in the past 12 months or so.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMohammad Shahzad’s 63-run opening stand with Usman Ghani set the base for Afghanistan’s imposing 187•Chris Whiteoak

Both sides were far from their best on the field. While that didn’t translate into a high standard of cricket, it made for an entertaining clash nonetheless. The end result was a last-ball finish, with two metres and a fine low catch by Gulbadin Naib separating both sides as Afghanistan held their nerve to outclass Zimbabwe by five runs in the first T20I in Sharjah.But the catch wasn’t Naib’s only contribution in the match. His cameo of 37 and a 52-run stand for the fifth wicket with Mohammad Nabi gave Afghanistan the impetus they needed after a middle order slump orchestrated by Graeme Cremer, who picked up three wickets. Afghanistan blasted 66 off the last five overs to finish with 187 for 7. It nearly didn’t prove enough.With 60 needed off the last five overs, Zimbabwe were in with a slim chance. Malcolm Waller swung his way to more runs in this innings alone than he had done in the preceding ODI series, while Elton Chigumbura found his hitting range to bring it down to 21 off the last over. Asghar Stanikzai’s decision to keep his premier pacer Dawlat Zadran worked, but by only just. His end figures of 3 for 32 were far more flattering in the overall context, but the scorecard wouldn’t reveal how he nearly finished second-best on the night.He was lucky to get away with two high full tosses that were called no-ball, to give Zimbabwe two free-hits, which they couldn’t take full toll of. One of them even accounted for Chigumbura’s run-out as he was scampering back for the second. What followed was total pandemonium. But with 16 needed off four, Luke Jongwe muscled a six and a four to bring it down to six off two. Then came a close call, with Dawlat flirting with the wide line.With six needed off the final ball, Jongwe carved one over the infield only for Naib to, quite fittingly, take the catch at the deep-cover boundary to end the heart-stopping thriller. In the end, Zimbabwe were left wondering what could have been had they held their chances that would have ensured they didn’t have to chase these many.Mohammad Shahzad was dropped by Chamu Chibhabha at deep midwicket off the third ball to deny debutant Donald Tiripano a wicket Shortly after, Masakadza was caught in a brain freeze as his decision to run towards the stumps instead of lobbing a throw to the wicketkeeper resulted in Usman Ghani a reprieve. The result of the two misses cost Zimbabwe 33 and 42 respectively, which set them a solid base for a blaze at the end.But Cremer wasn’t giving up. The classical legspinner used his height and clever use of angles to generate bounce and beat the batsmen with his dip. The end result was magical figures of 4-0-17-3 that briefly caused a few flutters in the Afghanistan camp as they slipped from 62 without loss to 105 for 4. But Tendai Chisoro, the left-arm spinner, and Raza, the part-time offspinner, failed to create the same impact Cremer had.While Chisoro kept firing them in, only for Nabi and Naib to get underneath the ball and hit them cleanly, Raza fed them with long hops that were dispatched. When their partnership, that gave the innings a power-boost ended with Chisoro sending back Nabi, the mood in the Zimbabwe camp spelt relief.There wasn’t an iota of doubt that this would be a difficult chase. The loss of two early wickets, both to Dawlat, gave Afghanistan an early advantage. But Hamilton Masakadza and Richmond Mutumbami then came out swinging as Afghanistan’s bowlers repeatedly missed their lengths. The result was Zimbabwe wiping out 95 runs in 11 overs.But the pressure of the asking rate and some tight bowling by the spinners following Masakadza’s downfall to a reverse sweep for 33 allowed Afghanistan a foot in the door. Sikandar Raza and Waller then continued to keep the fight going. Aiding them along the way was some heavy dew and some poor death bowling as Zimbabwe managed to find the boundaries with regularity.Waller cashed in on Rashid Khan’s inexperience by targeting the short midwicket boundaries. Yet there was a lingering feeling that Zimbabwe were just a wicket away from being squeezed out of the contest. But they did well to hang in till the very end courtesy Jongwe’s two blows that could have been decisive, but Afghanistan did remarkably well to hold their own under pressure to eke out a win that could have a galvanising effect on them.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Niroshan Dickwella has been added to Sri Lanka’s squad as cover for Tillakaratne Dilshan, who was ruled out of the first T20 against India with a hand injury. Dilshan did not travel with the team to India on Saturday. He will instead spend a few days recovering from injury at home, before joining the side mid-series. He is expected to be available for the second match, in Ranchi, on February 12.This injury is an aggravation of an old complaint for Dilshan, who sustained it while attempting a catch during the semi-final of the recently-concluded Super T20 Provincial Tournament. He did not play in the final, but the injury is not thought to be serious. He is scheduled to resume training in the nets on Monday.Dickwella earned his call-up via a good run in the Super T20 tournament, where he struck 189 runs in six innings, with a strike rate of 173. He has played four Tests and one ODI for Sri Lanka, but is uncapped in the shortest format. He will remain in the squad even after Dilshan rejoins it.Dilshan is the third high-profile player to be struck by injury ahead of the series. Lasith Malinga and Angelo Mathews had already been ruled out of all three T20s. The first match is set to be played in Pune, on Tuesday.

Shane Watson has confirmed himself as Australia’s most important player by winning his second consecutive Allan Border Medal in Melbourne, where he also scooped the one-day and Test awards. The only international prize that he didn’t collect was in the newly-created Twenty20 section, where he was pipped by the short-format specialist David Hussey, but in the voting for the Allan Border Medal there was daylight between Watson and the second-placed Michael Hussey, who was narrowly ahead of Mitchell Johnson.Watson was the hot favourite going in to the evening to become the second man after Ricky Ponting in 2006-07 to win back-to-back medals, but the enormous margin – he had 295 votes to Hussey’s 195 – was a surprise. He also became the only player after Ponting in 2007 to sweep the three major awards, which gave Watson something to celebrate at the end of a summer that has brought the disappointment of a lost Ashes series and the heartache of devastating floods in his home town of Ipswich.He was four votes ahead of Johnson in the voting for the Test Player of the Year, but only narrowly sneaked in for the One-Day International Player of the Year, beating Michael Clarke by one vote. Watson spent 2010 opening for Australia in both formats, and his form was so impressive that he is expected to become the team’s highest-paid player when the next round of Cricket Australia contracts is announced later this year.”The last couple of years have been something I never thought would really happen throughout my cricket career, so it’s been really nice to play as long as I have continuously,” said Watson, who was constantly hampered by injuries during the earlier stages of his career. “It’s an amazing honour to be able to win the Allan Border Medal, but it’s also to play continuous cricket for the last couple of years, which is probably my biggest feat I feel I’ve been able to achieve.”Although he didn’t dominate many games – Watson was Man of the Match in just one Test and one ODI during the voting period – it was his consistency that pushed him ahead of the pack. In the Test arena, Watson was Australia’s leading run scorer with 847 runs at 44.57 during the voting period, which began on February 14 last year, and he also collected 16 wickets at 29.25.His only century came against India in Mohali, but he also managed seven fifties, and he starred with the ball during the series against Pakistan in England in July. He finished with 14 votes for the Test prize, ahead of Johnson on 10 and Michael Hussey on 8, while the axed Marcus North proved a surprise vote-getter, coming in fourth with seven.As in the Tests, Watson was Australia’s highest scorer in ODIs, with 858 runs at 40.85, and he was equal third on the wicket tally with 20 victims at 26.60. His opening partnership with Brad Haddin will be a vital ingredient in Australia’s World Cup hopes when the side flies to India later this week to defend their title.Watson finished with 16 votes in the ODI section, just clear of Clarke (15) and Cameron White, who scored 13. Again, it was Watson’s consistency that pushed him ahead of his colleagues; during the voting period he made only one score greater than 64. However, it was a monster – his unbeaten 161 in the opening game against England at the MCG last month set the tone for Australia’s 6-1 series triumph.He wasn’t far off making it a clean sweep with the Twenty20 prize, which was introduced this year, but that honour went to David Hussey. He edged out Watson and Cameron White by two votes, and it was a proud moment for Hussey, 33, who is also in strong one-day form and on Wednesday will fly to India to play in his first World Cup.During the voting period, Hussey scored 346 runs at 24.71 in his 16 Twenty20s for Australia, making him the third-leading scorer, and he collected nine wickets at 17.67. That form helped him become the second-highest priced Australian at the recent IPL auction, where of his countrymen only Shane Warne earned more than the $1.4 million Hussey was bought for by the Kings XI Punjab. Hussey collected 12 votes, leading White and Watson, who each earned 10, and David Warner came fourth on nine votes.

Zaka Ashraf, the PCB chairman, has hinted at an overhaul in 2013 as part of an attempt to make Pakistan the best team across all formats of the game. Pakistan have had a fairly good year, with the 3-0 Test sweep of England being the highlight, but Ashraf said discipline and a focus on youth would take the team to the next level.He also pledged a reform of the PCB administration, saying the problem with Pakistan cricket was not in the system or in its constitution but in the people who are in charge. He said he would work to ensure the PCB would fall in line with the ICC’s decision that all member boards should have free elections and be free from political intervention.Pakistan cricket has been riddled with infighting, indiscipline and clashes between players and the board over the last few years. Ashraf said he didn’t want to rake up the past but was confident about the present, insisting that player-power in Pakistan cricket was being curtailed.”One thing must be ensured that the institution is bigger than the player,” Ashraf said in an interview with ESPNcricinfo. “The PCB won’t allow any player to offset the unity in the team, and each one will have to be responsible for their own performance. I hope there aren’t any groups within the team but if there is something it will be dealt with strictly.”We have given considerable latitude to players and given them the space to perform,” he said. “We have been observing each and every player in the team, who is performing well and who is not. I also understand who talks a lot without producing results, so I think 2013 is the year for an overhaul and things will be better soon.”I want to give Pakistan cricket a new direction and a future – a future beyond all the previous tragic incidents. What is required is to have a free and clean environment for cricket with no more room for yet another controversy. I don’t find any reason that Pakistan cannot be the top team in all formats. Pakistan is a very talented cricket playing country but we have to work hard to make it possible. We have short- and long-term plans but I just need time. We are focusing on youth as the current lot who is above 30 might not be as athletic in the field as the Australians are but we can make our upcoming youth a complete product, bringing them up with the best system and training.”He wants to provide plenty of opportunities to young players at the junior level, giving them ample exposure before reaching the top level. He also acknowledged that the ‘A’ team, which hasn’t played too many matches in recent times, needs to be given more chances to help Pakistan test their back-up.The years between 2008 and 2011 were a low in Pakistan cricket in terms of governance, with frequent disputes between senior players and the board, and a rent-a-quote chairman not showing the tact needed to smooth out the differences. Ashraf was wary about the challenges he faced after taking over as PCB chairman a year ago, and knows a lot still has to be done. “What happened in past is past. I don’t see myself criticising my predecessors. Instead I am seeing what can be done to give Pakistan cricket some stability.”The PCB has come under flak for its constitution that allows its chairman almost dictatorial powers, nearly making it a one-man show. “I am big follower of democratic system but in any case there is always one man behind the gun,” Ashraf said with a smile. “I don’t see any flaw in the system or in the constitution, the fault actually lies in the people who are at helm of the affairs. System is here to stay, it has to run with always a room for possible improvement.”But if my working team isn’t good then definitely I will not able to perform. I tried to bring a lot of former cricketers on board and made various committees accordingly and they take decision and I only oversee and approve in light of their recommendations. I’m not involved directly nor do I take any direct decisions but I seek explanations before giving an approval.”Ashraf isn’t a full-fledged politician but is a member of the Pakistan People Party’s Central Executive Committee. With the ICC deadline for removing political interference from member boards looming, the PCB needs to amend its constitution. The prospect of the amendment is not a straightforward move as, according to Ashraf, every country has its unique circumstances according to which the system functions.The chairman did confirm, however, that the PCB would follow the ICC guideline. “We have already conveyed the details to our patron-in-chief (the Pakistan president, Asif Ali Zardari),” Ashraf said. “We are willing to comply with the ICC provision and there is no point of ruling it out. We will make it before the deadlines approaches.”One of the major items in Ashraf’s agenda is bringing back international cricket to Pakistan. “The incident of Sri Lanka team attack was mishandled and it could have been controlled with greater care if the PCB itself had monitored with the help of an advance team. We know proper security wasn’t there and routing arrangement wasn’t in best shape to allow the team bus. But now things have changed and we are here to own things and have learnt the lesson.”I know it’s a tough task, but for how much time should we sit like this. Only waiting for the right time won’t change things but we have to plan for it. We recently have approved a mega project in Islamabad in which we have planned to build a huge stadium alongwith hotel within the premises that will allow surveillance with heavy security and teams will be carried from airport to stadium with the help of helicopters.”

Sri Lanka chief selector Ashantha de Mel has said that the national selection committee may streamline the selection of teams, and have a separate Twenty20 squad, following Sri Lanka’s 36-run loss to West Indies in the World Twenty20 final in Colombo.The changes are likely to be introduced in the one-off T20 international against New Zealand to be played at Pallekele on October 30.Vice captain Angelo Mathews is expected to take the reins for the game against New Zealand, with Mahela Jayawardene having resigned from the captaincy following the World Twenty20 final.”We will have to go with Mathews for the moment but we will assess the captaincy. The team should be captained by a player who has a permanent place in the side,” de Mel said. “We need to separate the Test and ODI players from the T20 players and pick a squad that will fulfill the requirements of T20 cricket.”We will pick a young side with players who can make a clean strike of the ball,” he said. Sri Lanka hit the least sixes of the four semi-finalists in the World Twenty20 and managed only one six to West Indies’ seven in the final. “We really have to assess the situation and start building a team of T20 cricketers for the next World T20 in Bangladesh in 2014,” said de Mel.”We need to find some strong hitters who can clear the boundary successfully. Players like Mahela Jayawardene and Angelo Mathews don’t have the power so they adopt different methods to score runs like the scoop and the reverse sweep. Even playing those strokes you need the strength to clear the fielders,” he said.Mathews exposed his stumps and was bowled attempting to play the scoop shot against Darren Sammy and Jayawardene failed to clear the short third man fielder when he reverse swept Sunil Narine. De Mel said that Dilshan Munaweera, who was unused after the group stages of the World Twenty20, was a player who could hit sixes.”Chamara Kapugedera is another batsman who could easily clear the boundary but he has been under so much pressure from all quarters for failing to contribute big scores that he was eventually dropped,” de Mel said.Kapugedera hit 13 sixes in six matches for NCC in the Premier club T20 tournament and had a strike rate of 179.64.De Mel also said Sri Lanka paid the penalty for not being aggressive enough chasing a West Indies total of 137 for victory. Sri Lanka’s batsmen were circumspect after the dismissal of Tillakaratne Dilshan in the second over, and struggled to score at the require run rate throughout the innings. They were eventually dismissed for 101.”I don’t know what went wrong with our batting, for in the earlier matches we used to score at least 50 runs in the first six overs of Powerplay. Here they managed only 30 runs which put the fielding side on top.”I think we also panicked during our innings when there was a slight drizzle and threw away wickets rather unnecessarily trying to up the score, the two run outs of Thisara Perera and Jeevan Mendis didn’t help either. Everything seemed to go against us.”

Taking 20 wickets in less than a day, West Zone trounced East Zone by aninnings and 363 runs with more than a day to spare in their Duleep Trophyleague match at the Nehru stadium in Pune on Saturday. With this, West Zonecompleted their engagements with 17 points and await the result of theCentral Zone-South Zone clash to know their fate in the competition. IfCentral Zone defeats South Zone, they will finish runners-up with 19points. If Central Zone get only five points, then West Zone will take thesecond spot in the tournament, already won by North Zone.If Indian medium pacer Ajit Agarkar routed East Zone in the first innings,former Indian leg spinner Sairaj Bahutule laid them low in the secondinnings. While Agarkar, with five for 22, was instrumental in bowling outEast Zone for 132 the first time around, the 28-yearold Bahutule broughtthe match to a swift end by taking six for 49 including a hat-trick andbowling out East Zone for 161 in the second innings.East Zone’s capitulation was surprising considering that they started theday at 50 for no loss in the face of West Zone’s imposing first inningstotal of 656 for seven declared. Once the opening stand between skipperShiv Sundar Das (38) and SZ Suffri (27) was broken at 55, the rest of thebatting simply caved in. Three wickets fell with the score on 88 as Agarkarwas on a hat-trick after dismissing Das and Sukhbinder with successivedeliveries. Only a last wicket partnership of 27 between Utpal Chaterjee(18 not out) and J Zaman (1), the next best after the opening stand and thefact that West Zone conceded as many as 28 extras, boosted the East Zonetotal to 132.East Zone fared no better the second time around. This time their topscorer was RR Parida with 41. He faced only 48 balls, hitting seven foursand a six. But the rest of the batting fumbled against Bahutule. WhereAgarkar failed, Bahutule succeeded. He removed Sanjay Raul and SukhbinderSingh with the fifth and sixth balls of an over and then with the firstball of his next, completed an unusual hat-trick by having P Jai Chandraleg before. It was only the second such feat in the competition, the previous being notched up by Kapil Dev for North Zone against West Zone in the 1978-79 final.

A magnificent unbroken opening stand of 176 between David Fulton and Robert Key, gave Kent the perfect start on the first day of the CricInfo Championship. The two batsmen dominated the Surrey attack which consisted of seven bowlers, all of them with Test experience.On a bitterly cold day which was severely disrupted by showers – causing a loss of 45 overs – Surrey’s bowling was made to look quite innocuous.Having decided to bat first on a slightly greenish pitch, both Fulton and Key looked comfortable in scoring briskly, bringing up the fifty at a run a minute. It wasn’t until the double bowling change took place that either batsman was seriously tested.Fulton, who had earlier hit Alex Tudor for a six and a four off consecutive balls, was fortunate not to edge one behind that came in sharply from Ed Giddins, making his championship debut for Surrey.In his previous over, Giddins beat Key, on 22, with successive deliveries, moving the ball away and then bringing the next ball into him. Apart from this, there was little else in the Surrey bowling to cause alarm to either batman who played entertaining strokes with confidence as the innings progressed.It was good to see the two batsmen time the ball so well at the very start of the season in their drives and cuts in particular. They seemed to keep pace with each other in their rate of scoring.There was, however, one confident appeal later in the day, which was turned down, with Key on 70, for a catch behind off Martin Bicknell. At stumps, Key was on 88 and Fulton on 86.

Arch rivals Abahani K.C. and Mohammedan Sporting met on the rain-drenched BNS ground today in the decisive Premier League match where the winner will instantly become champion.Earlier, due to a heavy but brief shower, the match was reduced to 33 overs a side. Mohammedan won the toss and their decision to bat did not surprise anyone because the pitch was damp and the spinners were going to benefit.Abahani set off sluggishly, mostly due to Azam Iqbal who took 60 balls over his painful 30 – slow-going in a rain-shortened game. They received a blow when run-machine Md. Hussain (21) tried to lift the ball to Rashedul only to offer a catch.New batsman Nafis Iqbal looked quite troubled by the off-breaks of Maurice Odumbe and soon fall prey to him by giving a nick to Mortaza at 15. After the fall of Asadullah Khan (19), it was evident that the spinners would dominate.Shoaib Malik did well to guide his side to a fighting total. His efforts included a straight six but Sanwar got him for 26 when he tried to flick him to point where he was comfortably caught.Abahani were dismissed for 160, a total which Mohammedan Sporting seemed content to chase as they all looked satisfied at the end of the innings.The spinners’ performance was spectacular though the pitch got the credit. Odumbe took 2 for 17 off five overs and Sanwar 4 for 28 in six.

Cricket has taken former New Zealand batsman Brian Hastings many places during his career since he left Wellington College in 1958 and tomorrow he will be on the front lines serving as match referee for the England-Pakistan series starting at Lord’s.It will be his fourth series as the international match referee. England and Pakistan have a colourful history and as a referee Hastings can expect to have some tough times ahead.Much interest has been aroused with fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar’s return after injury and scrutiny of his bowling action after he was reported by New Zealand umpires Steve Dunne and Doug Cowie. However, it seems Akhtar won’t be selected for the first Test.As an observer, Hastings has his own view on Akhtar’s likely longevity at the bowling crease.”They’re playing so much cricket today, you just can’t expect the body to stand up to it day in and day out. I personally believe Shoaib Akhtar won’t last long. I don’t think he’ll play a lot of cricket. His style puts a huge amount of strain on his body. He has a slinging action and you’ve got to have an economical action like Richard Hadlee.”While Akhtar has been given permission to bowl again his action is always going to be the subject of scrutiny by umpires.The other contentious matter on the international scene is the issue of sledging. It is something Hastings can relate to from his own playing days.”If anything it’s a little worse now – although Australians have always been pretty verbal,” he said.”I just ignored them – I wasn’t one to react. I found the easiest way to fix verbals was to turn a deaf ear to it. I think if you start getting involved it can start to affect your own concentration.”Hastings enjoys the involvement his work gives him with the game.”It is quite an honour. It is also a challenge and I am looking forward to it. If there are problems, you can be very much in the limelight,” Hastings said when he was first appointed to the referee’s role. He has since officiated in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and in Australia in their series against Australia last August.Born in Wellington, Hastings successfully captained the New Zealand Colts team to Australia in 1960. By the time his career ended 15 years later in England at the 1975 World Cup he had been through a revolutionary stage of the game’s development, and New Zealand’s international growth which culminated in the side reaching a semi-final spot.”It was a great experience, played in whites in those days.”In between came 31 Tests, including 1510 runs and four centuries. The avuncular Brian, according to R T Brittenden, “played his best cricket when it was most needed.” This included a world record tenth wicket stand of 151 against Pakistan at Auckland in 1973. This 155-minute effort with Richard Collinge kept the New Zealanders in the match, not only passing the follow-on mark but allowing New Zealand to level the first innings scores.His first century was a satisfying one against the West Indies in Christchurch in just his third Test. Of “special appeal” was his 105 at Bridgetown, Barbados in 1972. “We came very close to winning. A couple of catches and we could have beaten the West Indies and won the series.”An even more important knock was Hasting’s 46 in a partnership of 115 with Glenn Turner, which took New Zealand to their first victory over Australia, in Christchurch in 1974.Cricket was now more professional than when he played.”There’s a lot more money in it and I don’t think there’s the same sort of team spirit. Teams had a lot more fun together, but players certainly didn’t get rewarded back then. But they play a lot more cricket now. Your season was 15 days if you weren’t playing Tests.”The 61-year-old now works as an artificial turf supplier alongside Graham Vivian, a former team-mate from the early 70’s. Vivian has a cricketing legacy dating back to 1930, when father Giff made his first-class debut against Canterbury. Hastings, too, has begun a cricketing dynasty, with son Mark a Canterbury all-rounder. His other son Michael plays for The Willows cricket team, rather than Christchurch club cricket, where Brian was a fixture for nearly a quarter of a century.Herein lies one of Hastings’ roles. He is President of Canterbury Cricket and recognises that changes need to be made at club level to keep the game in the province healthy.With the vast majority of players in club and provincial cricket leaving the game at a relatively early age, Hastings would be an oddity today in that he did not hit his straps until he was nearly 29.After retirement Hastings worked as a manager with The Press in Christchurch for 38-and-a-half years. He took early retirement two years ago, but is now playing an important role in Canterbury Cricket and its on-going re-organisation.”I had a long innings really. I didn’t actually officially retire. I just faded away. It was a most enjoyable time and I made wonderful friends and contacts who are an invaluable help later on in life.”It will be his third year as president of Canterbury Cricket. Normally only two years, he was asked to stay on for an extra term. “The president is really an honorary position. I’ve taken a deep involvement in Canterbury cricket. We’re going through a rebuilding phase and there’s certainly a lot to be done. Our cricket’s not in great shape really and it worries me.”Standards have slipped, there’s not as many playing club cricket, due to a lack of commitment. I’ve got a son who wants to play at the Willows every second or third week, rather than be committed to every Saturday. The average cricketer now doesn’t want to play much after 30, whereas when I was playing it was 37 or 39. Changing lifestyles, quite often apply to first-class cricket as well. Many players want to retire before 30 – I was only just starting!” he said.”Canterbury lacked experience towards the end of the season. It’s a matter of getting the right balance in the side. There was far too much inexperience for them to succeed. It was far too tough on the captain. There’s a lot to be done. All associations are not finding it easy financially and there’s a number of big issues on our plate I hope we can resolve in next 12 months.”The first step was the appointment of a new Chairman of the Board – David Shackleton. Hastings adds that Canterbury “needs clubs that are sound. That’s a basic requirement. Nine [senior club] teams in my opinion is quite unsatisfactory. There need to be some amalgamations to improve strength. Next we need a strong coaching system in place and a strong junior association. We do, in Canterbury, have big numbers of young kids. It’s the hardest job in cricket to keep them playing. There doesn’t seem to be club unity in some clubs. There’s a lot of preparation work to be done for a new coach.”Even with a tough international series to referee followed by a new-start season at Canterbury, Hastings’ integrity and honesty in his desire to see the best for cricket will undoubtedly see him continue to succeed cheerfully, as he always has, in his many cricketing roles.