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Match facts

Thursday, April 21, Mohali
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Colours have changed, teams have changed, but life’s still good•Getty Images

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Adam Gilchrist contributed to 59 of Shane Warne’s Test wickets either through catches or stumpings, one more than Ian Healy did. And then there were the endless plans that the two would have worked out together. On Thursday, they will be using their cricket expertise and their knowledge of each other’s games to try and beat the other guy’s team. More than other captains, perhaps, Gilchrist and Warne have left deeper imprints on teams they have led in the IPL. They have won the thing once each too.

This year, Gilchrist seeks to leave his imprint on a new side, the Kings XI Punjab, while Rajasthan Royals have loyally retained Warne. They have had contrasting starts to their campaign. Rajasthan began with two wins before running into two defeats at the hands of Kolkata Knight Riders. Punjab lost their first game, didn’t bowl exceptionally in their second, but then Paul Valthaty changed it all, winning them that game and the next. While Punjab will look to carry on that momentum, Rajasthan will look to arrest the slide.

Team talk

The last time Rajasthan played, they missed the injured Rahul Dravid and Johan Botha. While Dravid should walk into the XI if he is fit, it will be interesting to see if Rajasthan drop Shaun Tait for Botha. On current form, and considering the all-round skills of Botha, they should. Amit Paunikar hasn’t got going as an opener, and his place could also come under scrutiny.
In their last game, Punjab brought in an extra seamer in Vikramjeet Singh Malik. It will be interesting to see if they persist with that winning combination in Mohali.

In the spotlight

At the moment, Paul Valthaty seems to be incapable of committing a mistake. In the last two games, he has scored a century and a fifty, and has also taken four wickets with his split-finger slower balls. If he keeps going in this vein, he is likely to stay on the winning side.
Shane Watson was one of the cornerstones of the success that Rajasthan Royals tasted in their first season. This time, though, he has got off to a slow start, scoring only 33 in two games. Rajasthan will look for some of what he did in Bangladesh immediately before coming to the IPL.

Prime numbers

• Valthaty needs 36 runs to take back the orange cap from Sachin Tendulkar.
• Rajasthan’s leadin run-getter, Johan Botha with 118, is only the 15th best in the overall list. That represents some of Rajasthan’s problems.

The chatter

“He is known to spring surprises on the opposition. So we have to be ready for the challenges thrown at us.”

Adrian Barath, the West Indies opening batsman, has said he hopes to be fit in time for West Indies’ home series against India after picking up a right hamstring injury just before the 2011 World Cup that caused him to miss the tournament.Barath has not played any competitive cricket since February but has been working on improving his fitness and technique while he recovers, something he believes will help him become a better player.”I am feeling much better and I have been training [with First Citizens Clarke Road United] and I feel fitter now than I ever was,” Barath told the . “I want to return to competitive cricket as soon as possible and hopefully I can return to international cricket for the India home series.”He admitted that injuries have set him back and that he was frustrated by the layoff but was optimistic he would come back stronger and fitter because his recovery period was being extended to ensure that the injury would not re-occur in the future.”I have been using the time to work on my fitness. As an international cricketer, fitness is very important so I want to be as fit as possible and I think that will auger well for me in the future.”The opener will make his return to competitive cricket this weekend in the Eastern Credit Union Premier Division, playing for Clarke Road United against T&TEC Sports at Point Lisas.”This game is going to be competitive and I am going to try my best to help Clarke Road move up the table. My personal aim is to occupy the crease. I have been batting in the nets a lot and I have been working on certain aspects of my game, both physically and technically. I got advice from various coaches. I have been training with my club and I am ready to play.”

Cricket South Africa (CSA) is likely to announce the new national coach on June 6. A specially appointed CSA panel met the candidates in Johannesburg on Monday and will discuss the appointment on Tuesday.The interview committee includes CSA chief executive Gerald Majola, outgoing coach Corrie van Zyl, cricket committee chairperson Andy O’Connor, players’ association representative Boeta Dippenaar, convenor of selectors Andrew Hudson and Professor Johann Coetzee, a human development expert. “The panel will meet today [Tuesday] to have a discussion around the interviews that were conducted,” a source told ESPNCricinfo.CSA has not revealed the names on the shortlist, which it had initially said consisted of six names. The only clues as to who might be in the running came from the interview venue, a hotel in the upmarket suburb of Sandton. Gary Kirsten, widely considered to be the frontrunner for the job, and former Pakistan coach Richard Pybus were seen there. According to the source, all interviews were conducted in person.Kirsten has just returned from a two-year stint in India, during which India climbed to the top of the Test rankings, and culminated in the winning of the World Cup. He has indicated that he would like to spend more time with his family in South Africa and with a third child due in November, it remains to be seen how much travel Kirsten would be willing to do.Pybus is currently in charge of the Cape Town based Cobras franchise and was previously involved with the Titans. He has been involved with South African cricket since 2003 and is widely acclaimed for his innovative and creative coaching methods.Duncan Fletcher and John Buchanan, who were believed to be on the shortlist, accepted positions in India and New Zealand respectively, before the interview process began. Others reportedly in contention for the job are Tom Moody, Stephen Fleming and Vincent Barnes.

West Indies have dropped their vice-captain Brendan Nash and recalled Kirk Edwards for the second Test against India, which begins on June 28 in Barbados. Marlon Samuels, who missed the first Test in Jamaica, is likely to play in the middle order instead of Nash.Nash came into the Test side without match practice and made 1 and 9 at Sabina Park, where West Indies lost by 63 runs. He has scored only 53 runs in his previous six innings and been dismissed in single digits five times.”It is clear that Brendan has been struggling for form for some time and we want to give him a chance to take some time away from international cricket and work on his game,” Clyde Butts, the chairman of selectors, said. “Brendan is a mentally tough cricketer and we are sure that he will be able to overcome the challenges he is now facing and come back strong.”Ian Bishop, the former West Indies fast bowler and commentator, told ESPNcricinfo he wasn’t surprised by the axing, though he thought Nash might have got one more chance.”It’s difficult for Brendan. It’s been a like that for a while now. Nash doesn’t play the ODIs and doesn’t get much cricket in between,” Bishop said. “I know he is a hard worker, very professional and will definitely go to the nets and work on his game. I suspect it will be Samuels who will play and not Edwards. Samuels has shown that he can make a contribution to this team. There might be also an option of playing five bowlers on that Barbados track. Time will tell.”In the absence of Chris Gayle, and now with the exit of Nash, the responsibility on Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan increases. “Shiv has the ability … I won’t say he was careless in getting out in the Test match. One bounced on him and one hit a crack. He will go back and work hard and will lead this West Indies batting line-up. He is the one guy who can play the Dravid-type innings.”Good teams have a senior core, who set a trend. Chanderpaul and Sarwan have to set that trend, particularly Sarwan. He is still relatively a young player and at the prime of his career.”MS Dhoni, the Indian captain, didn’t want to comment on the continuing absence of Gayle. “I think that’s a situation for the selectors to decide who they can pick for their team,” he said. “I won’t say this West Indian side is a weaker side. If you look at the talent they have in their top six or seven batsmen, then they are equally matched with the current Indian team you know, who all are over here”.West Indies squad : Adrian Barath, Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels, Carlton Baugh (wk), Darren Sammy (capt), Fidel Edwards, Ravi Rampaul, Devendra Bishoo, Kemar Roach, Kirk Edwards.

The PCB has raised serious questions about the ICC Pakistan Task Team’s (PTT) report, pointing out a number of factual errors in it and calling it “a scholarly exercise” rather than being a Pakistan-specific document. In an unusually long and fairly withering press release, the board said a detailed response to the 38-page report and 63 recommendations had been sent to the ICC; only some of the responses were being made public.The PTT report, released last week, had recommended what amounted to a root and branch reform of the game in Pakistan, calling on a range of macro and micro changes to how the game is run there. The report recommended changes to the board’s administration, to the process of selection, managerial appointments, the central contracts pool and even the kind of ball used in domestic cricket.At the very outset of their response, the PCB raises one of the main criticisms of the report and the work of the PTT. “The entire report has been prepared without PTT ever visiting Pakistan (except for a brief chat of a few hours that Dave Richardson [ICC general manager and PTT member] had with a few ex-players during his visit to Karachi in January 2011 or perhaps some input to PTT from Ramiz [Raja, PTT member]),” the release says. “This raises serious questions on the observations given in the report.”Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, also visited Pakistan before the 2010 World Twenty20, a visit during which issues related to international cricket in Pakistan were discussed with board and government officials.The broader recommendations of the report centred on the powers of the chairman and expressed particular concern at the manner in which he is appointed – by the country’s president, the patron of the board. The board treads a careful line in its response, mindful of the governance changes the ICC wants implemented over the next two years, and merely explains the reasons behind the system. “The circumstances in Pakistan are unique and cricket administration requires and deserves government support, without which international cricket may not be able to return to Pakistan. Keeping in view the extraordinary security situation in the country, having the president as patron of the PCB adds tremendous value and comfort. It should be appreciated that a system that has propelled Pakistan to the top of the cricket world has been in place for approximately 60 years and cannot certainly be labelled as faulty.”The response also takes on what is seen by the architects of the report as the most central issue to Pakistan’s future: the resumption of bilateral ties with India. But the PCB believes both the BCCI and the PTT/ICC have effectively failed to act on good intentions, questioning whether the ICC has even approached the BCCI on this matter. “We feel that perhaps the PTT/ICC should have taken a lead role in ensuring that all bilateral tour commitments are honoured by India vis-a-vis Pakistan,” the release states. “In fact this was also within the ambit of TOR’s of PTT. We do not have anything to suggest on record that PTT/ICC made any efforts to engage with the BCCI or the government of India in this regard.”The roles of Mike Brearley and Greg Chappell as ambassadors of Pakistan cricket are also highlighted in the response, for the apparent lack of involvement they have had. While appreciating the appointment, the board says “we are yet to observe any endeavours from their side. Although, with their standing in international cricket, they could have gone a long way in supporting cricket in Pakistan. We still welcome them to come to Pakistan and expect that they will now play a proactive role in supporting the return of international cricket to Pakistan.”This observation, on the return of international cricket, is likely to be the source of growing contention between the ICC and Pakistan. In the original terms of reference of the PTT, the focus was on ensuring that Pakistan didn’t suffer in the absence of international cricket at home. Reference is made to the recommendations of a security task force with regards to playing cricket in Pakistan. Since then the parameters of the PTT have grown to take in integrity and governance issues, to the extent that in the report only three of the 63 recommendations even referred to the revival of international cricket in Pakistan.But in the wake of the release of the report, senior PTT and ICC officials have implied privately that the revival of international cricket is not the primary concern of the work; the PCB referring to it implicitly in their release, with reference to the roles of Brearley and Chappell, suggests they believe it is.On the more micro issues, such as selection, the PCB “points out a number of recommendations that are incorrect, superfluous or redundant.” The number of centrally contracted players in the PTT – as ESPNcricinfo pointed out initially – is incorrect, the board says. The board also argues that the selection committee is independent and free from outside interference, thus rejecting outright the report’s recommendation that it should be.”Regrettably, PTT did not meet the chairman of selection committee to get his views,” the board says before detailing the process of selection and the board chairman’s role in it. “We therefore feel that the recommendations of the PTT that the PCB chairman has the right of veto are not based on facts. The process of selection is a time tested one and has worked for Pakistan. The view that there is interference in selection matters is therefore factually incorrect, devoid of reality and henceforth rejected.”The suggestion that the selection committee and not the board chairman recommends a captain, which is then approved by the governing board, is also rejected. “We respectfully disagree with this recommendation. In Pakistan the system of selecting a captain is different. No reason has been given by PTT in support of its recommendation that selection committee is the best judge of who the captain of Pakistan should be. If this recommendation is based on what other countries follow, it may not work for Pakistan. Again the authority to nominate the captain has been delegated by the governing board to the chairman.”The report had also advised the PCB to appoint team managers on a full-time basis, for longer periods instead of the current system where they appoint one on a series-by-series basis. The board dismissed this as well, asking why, if other countries also appoint in this way, should they change. “These recommendations are probably given by PTT as ‘best business practice’ rather than Pakistan specific. To our knowledge, there are other countries that nominate managers on a tour-by-tour basis and the system works well for them. Same in the case with other support staff who are appointed by the boards. In the absence of any plausible argument in favour of change, such recommendations cannot be accepted nor implemented.”The board concludes by hoping that amendments will now be made “for the report to reflect the true facts and reality.” Ijaz Butt, chairman of the PCB, expressed his appreciation for the work of the PTT and reiterated that the recommendations are not binding on the board. “I am grateful to the PTT for their work. While the intent cannot be questioned, few discrepancies can be identified in the report, which the PCB consider duty-bound to rectify. I wish to reiterate the assurance of the ICC to us that recommendations in the report are not directives to the PCB and that it is entirely up to the PCB to accept and implement these. Having consulted members of our board of governors, we decided to send a detailed response to ICC. I hope that it will be taken in a positive spirit.”

Scorecard
An impressive three-wicket burst by Kent all-rounder Matt Coles haltedMiddlesex progress and left honours pretty much even at the mid-point of the County Championship Division Two clash in Canterbury.When drizzle and bad light reached the St Lawrence ground at 4.15pm thevisitors had stumbled to 258 for seven – an overall advantage of only 16 runs asthey replied to the home side’s 242. Sitting pretty at 99 without loss and then looking good at 147 for 1, Middlesex struggled throughout an overcast mid-session when Kent skipper Rob Keyfinally allowed Coles off the leash.Key used five bowlers in a fairly turgid first session that saw Middlesex add104 for two wickets, and Cole was not amongst them. Having posted 34 Scott Newman tossed away his wicket when he flailed outside off stump against Wahab Riaz to be caught low down at slip.Chris Rogers, having scored an impeccable 28, charged down the wicket to DarrenStevens only to slice a drive to Azhar Mahmood in the gully. Middlesex started to regroup after lunch through Australian Sam Robson, strong off the back foot, and the elegant Dawid Malan, who curbed his attacking instincts to hold the innings together.They added 57 without trouble until Key finally introduced Coles soon after 2pmto reap havoc as the visitors lost four for five in the space of 31 balls. Robson’s near three hour stay was ended when he nicked a quick ball to the keeper then former Kent all-rounder Neil Dexter prodded forward to the next delivery from Coles to go without troubling the scorers.Five runs on off-spinner James Tredwell followed Coles’ lead by also taking twowickets in as many deliveries. He had Jamie Dalrymple caught bat-pad at backward short leg and then snared John Simpson for a golden duck, leg before to an arm-ball.Coles then returned to skittle Tom Smith for 13 with a swinging yorker thatproved just too quick for the young right-hander and made it 238 for seven.After another short delay for rain an unusually watchful Malan ploughed on fora shade over two hours for a 108 ball half-century and was still there when badlight forced an early finish.

Matthew Maynard, the former England assistant coach, said the chief reason for England’s rise to World No.1 in Tests is the unselfishness of their players. Maynard, who captained and coached Glamorgan, worked under Duncan Fletcher in the England setup from 2004 to 2007 and grew close to many of the current England players.”The big thing is that they really and truly enjoy each other’s success,” he told ESPNcricinfo in Centurion, where he has started his new job as head coach of the Titans franchise. “It was like that to an extent when I was there but not collectively like it is now. There were one or two players then who still had that little bit of jealousy when someone else did well, but those guys are gone now.”Rather than go into detail about the players whose influence was less than favourable, Maynard preferred to reflect on the members of the team who have excelled and blossomed since his time with the squad.”Ian Bell has really stood out for me. He has proven what a quality player he is. He has got much tougher as he has matured. Batsmen at the age of about 29, as he is now, start to play their best cricket and understand how much hard work is required of them.” Bell was England’s second-highest run-scorer in the recent home series against India, with 504 runs including a double-century in the fourth Test.Maynard heaped praise on England’s bowlers, singling out Graeme Swann as a major factor in the team’s success. “James Anderson really leads that attack and Tim Bresnan is an important component as well, but the player that has really changed them is Graeme Swann. If you look at all the best international sides in history, barring West Indies when they had that great pace attack, they have had a world-class spinner, not just a good one.”The 2005 Ashes triumph was the highlight of Maynard’s tenure, and he said while that was an important turning point for them there were lessons to be learned from the slump that followed that series win. Seven of the next 13 series were lost, two drawn and just four were won.Maynard said part of the reason they failed to establish continuity after that Ashes victory was because they genuinely did not know how to. “It was the pinnacle for us and we hadn’t really looked beyond that series at what we were going to do after that. It was as if we had reached the top of the world.”The real summit was only mounted this summer when a 4-0 whitewash of India allowed England to be crowned the best in the world. It was a process that Maynard believes was possible because of the way Andy Flower has crafted the England squad, which is substantially different to the squad that Maynard worked with, under Fletcher.”After that Ashes win, we had a few injuries. We lost Marcus Trescothick, Ashley Giles and Steve Harmison. What Andy Flower has done is tried to develop cover for everybody so that if something happens to anyone, someone else can step in. Instead of having just a top XI, he has a squad of 18 or 19 players. The only position he does not have cover for is that spinner’s spot.”

ScorecardBangladesh romped to a six-wicket victory over an overmatched Bangladesh Cricket Board Academy (BCBA) at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur. Having put BCBA into bat, opening bowlers Rubel Hossein and Shafiul Islam struck early and often to reduce their opponents to 30 for 4 in just the seventh over. Left-arm spinner Suhrawadi Shuvo then got into the act, taking three wickets in four balls as the lower order offered no resistance whatsoever. Rubel then returned to claim the last two wickets to finish with figures of 4 for 22 while Shuvo ended up with figures of 3 for 10. The last four batsmen all made ducks. In total, there were eight scores of four or less, with five zeros. Tanveer Haider topscored for Academy with an unbeaten 24.Tamim Iqbal wasted no time chasing down the meagre target of 76, smashing five fours and a six in a quickfire 36 from 37 balls. There was a bit of a hiccup as Bangladesh lost three wickets with the score on 54. Tamim was bowled by Alauddin Babu before Shahriar Nafees was bowled by Sohag Gazi and Shuvagato Hom was runout for a duck, but Alok Kapali calmed any nerves with a run-a-ball 22 as Bangladesh wrapped up the game with 31 overs to spare.