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Ricky Ponting, the former Australia captain, told a London court that he was present with Brendon McCullum when he allegedly received a call from Chris Cairns inviting him to discuss a ‘business proposition’

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Oct-2015Ricky Ponting, the former Australia captain, has described to a court how he was present in a hotel room in India during the 2008 IPL when Brendon McCullum received a call from Chris Cairns that McCullum described as “a business proposition”.Ponting was appearing at Southwark Crown Court in London via a video link from Australia as the latest prosecution witness against Cairns, who is charged with perjury for allegedly lying under oath in a libel trial, saying he had “never” cheated at cricket.At the time Ponting and McCullum were team-mates for Kolkata Knight Riders in the first year of IPL.”I was staying with Brendon in the team hotel in Kolkata in 2008 on the eve of the first IPL tournament,” Ponting recalled. “We were just sitting, sharing a drink, when he received a phone call – his phone rang. It was a very brief phone conversation, probably less than five minutes. He put the phone down, hung up and said it was Cairnsy and he ‘just made me a business proposition’.””We stayed together for a short time. I didn’t ask any more questions … As soon as I heard it was about business, I wasn’t interested anymore.”Giving evidence last week McCullum, 34, had claimed Cairns sent him a car which took him to his hotel, where McCullum alleged spot-fixing was discussed.Ponting, whose long-time nickname of ‘Punter’ was given to him by Shane Warne, was asked by Orlando Pownall QC, for the defence, whether he considered McCullum knew about match-fixing, and would have understood terms like “spot-fixing” and “spread betting”.He replied: “Right now I would; in 2008, maybe not as much.”Leanne McGoldrick, a players’ agent, also took the witness box on Tuesday, to describe an evening when McCullum, who she was managing at the time, had asked at a dinner at her Christchurch home after New Zealand’s 2008 tour of England whether she thought Cairns was involved in match-fixing.It was on that tour where McCullum gave evidence last week that he had had breakfast with Cairns in a Worcester café where Cairns allegedly made a second approach to him to spot-fix.McGoldrick said McCullum had first asked if she thought any New Zealand players were match-fixing. When she said she didn’t think so, he asked about Cairns. She said she did not think he was.”He said he’d had an occasion in England – in a bar or cafe, I can’t remember which – with Chris, and Chris had asked him whether he knew how to spot-fix.”McGoldrick said: “I was completely shocked … I couldn’t believe what he was saying.”She told McCullum to report the approach and he said he would, but their business relationship ended soon after.The trial continues.

Shashank Manohar is likely to meet Shaharyar Khan in Dubai on Saturday to discuss a bilateral series

Nagraj Gollapudi20-Nov-20151:48

Kalra: Manohar vehemently against India playing in the UAE

BCCI president Shashank Manohar is likely to meet PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan in Dubai on Saturday to discuss the bilateral series offer he had made a week ago. Manohar will reach Dubai on Friday evening, on a four-day visit, to acquaint himself with ICC affairs after the BCCI nominated him as ICC chairman – replacing N Srinivasan – at the Indian board’s annual general meeting on November 9. It is understood that Khan is already in Dubai, having reached there on Thursday morning.Neither the BCCI nor the PCB offered any official statement, but the Dubai meeting is the next step in the discussions both boards have been having recently in an attempt to resume cricketing ties between the two countries. Manohar has already offered the PCB a series in India, but the Pakistan board is adamant that it hosts the series in the UAE, as is specified in the ICC’s Future Tours Programme (FTP). However, it is understood that Manohar is strongly against playing in the UAE. A senior BCCI official said that Manohar had told him one of the reasons for this was because of the “nefarious activities” in the region, by which he meant the presence of bookies and cricket still being vulnerable to match-fixing.Manohar disagreed when asked whether getting permission from the federal government was proving to be a hurdle in getting India to play in the UAE. “We are not asking any permission from the government. We are not playing in UAE. That is certain. There are reasons. But I don’t want another debate on that. So I will not tell you the reasons,” Manohar told ESPNcricinfo on November 17. Also, after Khan had gone public last week with the BCCI’s offer to play a series in India, Manohar as well as BCCI secretary Anuarg Thakur categorically stated that the only way the series could be held was if Pakistan were willing to travel to India.Khan had revealed that Manohar rang him on November 13 to check whether Pakistan would be willing to play a bilateral series in India in December. He said that disturbances in the phone network did not allow both men to talk at length, so he requested Manohar to send the offer through an official communiqué. Subsequently he and the PCB had expressed surprise at the BCCI’s offer to play in India, keeping in mind the anti-Pakistan sentiment that has been expressed by regional political parties like the Shiv Sena, and also reiterated the fact that it was Pakistan’s turn to host India and that as per the FTP.The fact that Manohar is meeting Khan indicates he has not closed the door on the series, though insiders don’t see him changing his “mindset” on playing in the UAE. According to the senior board official, while Manohar was still positive about a series taking place, the venue posed a problem.Incidentally Manohar had issued a strongly worded public statement on March 26 last year, saying the BCCI’s move to play the first leg of IPL 2014 in the UAE would “tarnish” the image of the tournament. “Many years back a conscious decision was taken by the BCCI to abstain from [playing] matches in the Middle East in view of certain information regarding rampant betting and match-fixing [there]. As far as I know, that decision has not been revoked,” Manohar wrote in the one-page statement. “Due to the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the decision to shift the IPL matches to the Middle East will further tarnish the already murky waters surrounding the tournament.”Despite his protests, the IPL did take place at three venues across the UAE, without any incident. The official said that he and other senior administrators had tried to tell Manohar about the assurances given by the UAE government, which had paved the way for the 15-day first-leg of the league to be held there smoothly. But Manohar, he said, would not change his stance.On Thursday evening, Thakur had said that a decision on the Pakistan series was likely to be taken in the following two days.

Considering they were effectively operating with a three-man attack, South Africa did incredibly well to take seven wickets on a pitch that was better for batting than the one in Nagpur

The Report by George Binoy03-Dec-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details2:39

Manjrekar: India should have eyed 350-400 on this pitch

Considering they were effectively operating with a three-man attack, South Africa did incredibly well to take seven wickets on a pitch that was better for batting than the one in Nagpur. However, the surface was not docile enough to afford India the luxury of facing an inept fourth bowler, and the lack of support for South Africa’s frontline meant the batsmen could score freely when the first-choice bowlers were taken off or were tiring.India ended the day on 231 for 7, the highest total of the series, but they might have struggled to make 200 had Imran Tahir not been in awful form. The two new bowlers in South Africa’s XI, offspinner Dane Piedt and seamer Kyle Abbott, were incisive and displayed impressive stamina, taking four and three wickets apiece, and though Morne Morkel did not strike he offered control. Tahir, however, was bowled for only seven overs on the first day because he conceded 36 runs, serving up a buffet of full tosses and long-hops. The real damage to South Africa was in the overs Tahir could not bowl, because the rest were less threatening to face and easier to score off as they tired: Piedt bowled 34 overs, Morkel 17, and Abbott 17 for only 23 runs.The only Indian batsman good enough to battle through the hard periods and cash in on the good times was Ajinkya Rahane, who achieved his maiden half-century in India in his seventh innings and was approaching a fifth Test hundred, when bad light ended play six overs before stumps. His brisk partnership of 70 with Virat Kohli steadied India after a top-order wobble, and his rear-guard stands with Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin ensured India survived the day. A first-innings total of 250 will prove challenging on this surface, especially if a team has four reliable bowlers to defend it.Batting was difficult in the morning, when the ball was new and there was some moisture in the pitch, but Shikhar Dhawan managed to anchor India through the first session for the loss of only one wicket. He took 18 balls to score his first run. India scored only 6 in the first 30 minutes, and 16 in the first hour.Abbott had figures of 8-3-11-0 in his first spell; the variable bounce made facing him trickier. One good-length ball to Dhawan passed the off stump a little above the knee. Another short-of-a-length delivery climbed on M Vijay and was collected by wicketkeeper Dane Vilas at head height, but the ball immediately after kept low, forcing a crouching defence from the batsman. Vijay was later smashed on the right elbow by one that rose from a length, and wrung his hand in pain.Abbott had Vijay caught at slip in the 12th over but he had over-stepped, his foot erring by the smallest of margins. Vijay scored only two more runs, though, before he nicked a delivery from Piedt that drifted away from him but did not spin, to Hashim Amla at first slip.In the third over after lunch, Piedt broke Dhawan’s resistance with a classic one-two combo. The first ball drew Dhawan forward and spun away from the left-hander from around the wicket, passing the outside edge. The next delivery slid on with the arm, beating Dhawan’s inside edge as he played for the turn, trapping him lbw. Abbott then found the gap between Pujara’s bat and pad, the delivery angling in to uproot off stump after grazing the inside edge. India had gone from 60 for 1 to 66 for 3.In the middle period of the second session, however, Rahane and Kohli batted superbly, putting away loose deliveries and taking frequent singles to ensure pressure did not build. Their 50-run partnership came off 67 deliveries and they looked set to cash in on South Africa’s weak support bowlers, when Kohli suffered a freak dismissal.Kohli slog-swept Piedt, making clean contact. Instead of racing to the boundary, though, the ball thudded into the thigh of the fielder at short leg and lobbed back up towards the pitch. The wicketkeeper Dane Vilas reacted quickly and dived forward, taking the catch at full length and ensuring that Temba Bavuma, who was hopping about in pain, had something to celebrate.That wicket resulted in two more in quick time. Rohit Sharma was dropped at slip by Amla off Abbott on 0, but two balls later he tried to slog Piedt over deep midwicket, and got a leading edge to Tahir at long-on. Abbott then bowled Saha off the inside edge in the final over before tea, reducing India to 139 for 6. Rahane went into the break on 31 off 62 balls, having scored only one run off the 20 balls he faced since Kohli’s dismissal.India’s best session was the one after tea, during which they scored 92 runs for the loss of Ravindra Jadeja. Rahane and Jadeja added 59 for the seventh wicket, and scored freely against a tiring Piedt. Rahane slog-swept and pulled the offspinner for a six and a four in one over to pass 50, while Jadeja punished loose deliveries from Tahir and Duminy.South Africa had two moments of misfortune, too, after Jadeja was caught deftly by Dean Elgar at midwicket for 24. Ashwin was given not out when Piedt appealed for a bat-pad catch though the ball had brushed his glove, and then Rahane, on 78, was dropped by Amla at slip, capping a frustrating day in the field for the South African captain. Both those moments deprived Piedt of a fifth wicket, and allowed India to end the day in a far better position than they should have been.

India Women pick only three pacers in squads led by Mithali Raj for the limited-overs tour of Australia starting on January 26

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jan-2016Wicketkeeper-batsman Sushma Verma was recalled to India’s ODI squad, while Shubhlakshmi Sharma and Latika Kumari were left out of the T20 squad that will travel to Australia for the limited-overs series later this month. Sushma, who last played an ODI in 2014, impressed in the T20 series against New Zealand at home last July. R Kalpana, the wicketkeeper, who made her international debut in the same series, also found a place in the ODI squad.Thirush Kamini and Niranjana Nagarajan were picked in the T20I squad, while allrounder Deepti Sharma was dropped from the ODI squad, but made the cut for the T20I squad. Surprisingly, only three pacers were picked in both squads that will be led by Mithali Raj.With just two wins in nine matches, India head into the three-match ODI series placed seventh in the ICC Women’s Championship table. While the top four teams gain direct entry to the Women’s World Cup in 2017, the bottom four teams will play with four qualifiers to determine the four remaining spots.India will kick off the tour with the T20s starting on Australia Day (January 26) at the Adelaide Oval. All three T20Is will be double-headers, with the men’s game following soon after.This is the first tour for the India women’s team since becoming fully professional following the awarding of contracts by the BCCI in November.ODI squad: Mithali Raj (capt), Jhulan Goswami (vice-capt), Smriti Mandhana, Thirush Kamini, Harmanpreet Kaur, Veda Krishnamurthy, Shikha Pandey, Niranjana Nagarajan, Sushma Verma, Ravi Kalpana (wk), Ekta Bisht, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Raut, Poonam Yadav, Sneh Rana.T20I squad: Mithali Raj (capt), Jhulan Goswami (vice-capt), Smriti Mandhana, Thirush Kamini, Harmanpreet Kaur, Veda Krishnamurthy, Shikha Pandey, Niranjana Nagarajan, Sushma Verma (wk), Ekta Bisht, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Vellaswamy Vanitha, Anuja Patil, Deepti Sharma.

Hasan Mohsin starred with bat and ball as Pakistan Under-19s defended 212 to beat Sri Lanka Under-19s by 23 runs and finish top of Group B

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Feb-2016Hasan Mohsin starred with bat and ball as Pakistan Under-19s defended 212 to beat Sri Lanka Under-19s by 23 runs and finish top of Group B. Pakistan will take on West Indies in the quarter-finals while Sri Lanka will meet England.Sent in to bat, Pakistan made slow progress at first, and their run rate was still below four an over when Wanidu Hasaranga dismissed Salman Fayyaz (33) in the 41st over to end his 61-run stand with Mohsin. Wickets fell steadily at the other end, with none of bottom five getting into double figures, but Mohsin ensured he dragged Pakistan to a competitive total, and was ninth out for a run-a-ball 86 with eight fours and a six. Pakistan were bowled out for 212 in the 49th over.Opening the bowling with his gentle seam-up, Mohsin then gave Pakistan two early breakthroughs, dismissing both Sri Lankan openers. Sri Lanka slipped to 63 for 4 when the in-form pair of Charith Asalanka and Shammu Ashan got out to soft dismissals against the spinners, but Kamindu Mendis and Vishad Randika got the chase back on track with an 84-run stand for the fifth wicket. Just when Sri Lanka seemed to be cruising home, though, Mendis holed out to long-on for 68 (104b, 5×4), and Hasaranga and Randika (46 off 71) followed him soon after. Damitha Silva kept Sri Lanka in the hunt for a while with an unbeaten 21, but the lower order fell away around him, with legspinner Shadab Khan picking up the last two wickets to finish with figures of 3 for 31.

West Indies Women narrowed the gap down to four points between themselves and first-place Australia in the ICC Women’s Championship points table after a 57-run win over South Africa Women

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Feb-2016
ScorecardFile photo: West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor top-scored for her side with 79 off 83 balls•WICB Media/Randy Brooks

West Indies Women narrowed the gap down to four points between themselves and first-place Australia in the ICC Women’s Championship points table after a 57-run win over South Africa Women in East London. The result follows a 15-run win by West Indies at the same venue on February 24 and they’ll seek a series sweep in the final ODI on Monday.West Indies were 25 for 2 at the eight-over mark after electing to bat when captain Stafanie Taylor (79) and Deandra Dottin (61) teamed up for a 135-run stand, four short of equaling the West Indies Women’s record mark for a third-wicket partnership set by Juliana Nero and Pamela Lavine against Ireland at the 2005 Women’s World Cup. It’s also the sixth-highest partnership overall in West Indies Women’s ODIs and the fifth century stand between Taylor and Dottin in ODIs.The stand ended on the first ball of the 32nd over when Taylor was runout and Dottin perished not long after to end the 34th over. Dottin was the first wicket on the day for 20-year-old legspinner Suné Luus, who finished with 3 for 34 as West Indies were eventually bowled out in the last over for 232.South Africa made a bright start to the chase, reaching 85 for 1 in the 22nd over before Shaquana Quintyne sparked a slide by taking the wickets of captain Mignon du Preez and Marizanne Kapp two overs apart. South Africa’s hopes rested on opener Trisha Chetty to carry her team through but she was the fifth wicket to fall for 51, bowled by Anisa Mohammed. South Africa then lost their last five wickets for 40 runs with Hayley Matthews spinning out the tail to end South Africa’s reply for 175 in 45.3 overs.

Glamorgan’s new head coach Robert Croft will aim to fire the passions of a new crop of promising young professionals

David Hopps30-Mar-2016Coach: Robert Croft
Captain: Jacques Rudolph
Last season
In: Craig Meschede (Somerset), Nick Selman, Timm van der Gugten (Dutch passport), Harry Podmore (Middlesex, loan)
Out: Ben Wright (retired)
Overseas: Jacques Rudolph2015 in a nutshell
Glamorgan’s surprise promotion challenge petered out in the Championship – ultimately nobody scored 1000 runs or took 50 wickets – but fourth place still felt like a county punching above its weight. There were few signs, too, that Glamorgan were about to turn Cardiff into a T20 venue to be reckoned with. The outcome was that Toby Radford left as head coach after two years to return to a role of specialist batting coach.2016 prospects
Chief executive Hugh Morris has reduced debts from £16m to less than £5m since returning to Glamorgan, where he was one of 10 homegrown players (plus Waqar Younis) who won the Championship in 1997. Welsh fervour is back in fashion with Robert Croft appointed head coach four years after he called time on a 23-year career. There is much work to do stirring the passions of south Wales and Croft will be grateful to inherit a promising crop of young players, batsmen especially. Craig Meschede is a good signing and Harry Podmore has six matches to make a Championship impact before his loan from Middlesex ends, but the task is a big one.Key player
Graham Wagg, at 32, can look back on a career with some ups and downs but 2015 was one of his best with 838 Championship runs – including a double century against Surrey – and 45 wickets, second to Michael Hogan. A repeat would make Croft’s job much easier as he tries to introduce a more settled approach.Bright young thing
Aneurin Donald was named after the great Welsh politician Aneurin Bevan, architect of the National Health Service, so he should have just the attributes to return Glamorgan to rude health. Donald’s career is still in its infancy – he was not even a regular pick in England’s U-19 World Cup side – but every sign of development for this young batsman will be lapped up.ESPNcricinfo verdict
Morris has stoutly suggested that promotion is a possibility, but with only one side going up it is hard to agree with him. Signs that Cardiff is embracing T20 would be a breakthrough.Bet365 odds: Specsavers Championship, Div 2: 10/1; NatWest Blast n/a; Royal London Cup 25/1

Rising Pune Supergiants’ seam bowlers, led by Ashok Dinda, used the fresh Hyderabad surface to reduce Sunrisers Hyderabad to 32 for 5, setting up a crucial 34-run D/L win

The Report by Nikhil Kalro26-Apr-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAshok Dinda set up Rising Pune Supergiants’ win with his second-best IPL figures•BCCI

Rising Pune Supergiants’ seam bowlers, led by Ashok Dinda, used the fresh Hyderabad surface as an ally to restrict Sunrisers Hyderabad to 118 for 8, before producing a dominant batting performance to seal a 34-run win via the Duckworth-Lewis method.Sunrisers were reduced to 32 for 5 after mild showers delayed play by an hour. Dinda, brought in for Ankit Sharma, struck off the fourth delivery to dismiss David Warner, Sunrisers’ highest scorer, to set the tone for the evening. He later dismissed Aditya Tare and Naman Ojha to finish with 3 for 23. In the chase, Faf du Plessis and Steven Smith overcame the early loss of Ajinkya Rahane by putting together 80 off just 55 balls to derail Sunrisers.Rain returned to bring a premature end to the game with Supergiants needing 25. It was the 18th win by a chasing side in 22 games this season.Dinda, making his debut for Supergiants, removed Warner with a wide delivery that was cut straight to backward point, eliciting a Cristiano Ronaldo-like celebration. Mitchell Marsh swung the ball both ways to leave the batsmen searching for runs. The pressure of an unproductive Powerplay resulted in loose shots from Tare and Eoin Morgan as Sunrisers slipped to 27 for 3.Sunrisers’ innings went from bad to worse when Deepak Hooda gloved a reverse sweep off R Ashwin’s first delivery to MS Dhoni. In the next over, Moises Henriques was strangled down leg to leave Sunrisers at 32 for 5.Supergiants did not concede a boundary from the sixth over till the 14th, with R Ashwin conceding 14 in four straight overs. It was only the third time he completed his full quota this season.Shikhar Dhawan and Naman Ojha milked the bowling, but the inability to find boundaries forced them into playing the big shots. Dhawan, who was dropped by Rahane at long-off in the 15th over, carried on to post his second fifty of the season, but Bhuvneshwar Kumar provided the finishing touches – his eight-ball 21 gave Sunrisers momentum going into the break.Bhuvneshwar wasn’t done yet; he gave Sunrisers some hope in the chase with a wicket-maiden in the first over, after having Rahane caught at backward point. However, Smith and du Plessis capitalised on loose bowling, hitting 11 boundaries in the next seven overs to all but finish the game. Mustafizur Rahman, Warner’s trump card, was also taken apart by Smith’s wristy flicks.Du Plessis’ fluent knock ended when he edged behind for 30. Dhoni, who got off the mark with a muscular hit over mid-on, nailed a cut straight to backward point off Ashish Nehra soon after just as the drizzle got heavier. The players scurried off immediately with Supergiants at 94 for 3, comfortably ahead of the D/L par score of 60.

A round-up of the first day’s action at ICC World Cricket League Division Five in Jersey

Peter Della Penna in Jersey21-May-2016Opener Ademola Onikoyi’s unbeaten 68 propelled Nigeria past Tanzania for a six-wicket win at St Martin. In a match reduced to 28 overs a side, Tanzania chose to bat first but struggled to reach 115 for 8. Sesan Adedeji was the main source of disruption with the ball, taking 3 for 14 in five overs.Kassim Nassoro top-scored with 30 for Tanzania and struck twice with the ball during the Nigeria chase but couldn’t remove Onekoyi. The right-hander brought up his 50 in 61 balls on the way to victory achieved with 19 balls to spare.Guernsey claimed victory by five runs on the Duckworth-Lewis method after their 26-over chase of Vanuatu’s 127 for 6 was halted by rain at 105 for 6 after 21 overs at St Clement. Opener Matthew Stokes top-scored in the Jersey chase with 34 after having taken 2 for 23 in the field. Vanuatu captain Andrew Mansale followed up his 27 by taking 4 for 19 to put Guernsey in trouble at 81 for 6 in the 16th over, but a steady 24-run stand between Ben Ferbrache and Thomas Kirk ensured Guernsey were ahead of the par score when the players came off.Vanuatu had been sent in and opener Jonathon Dunn anchored a methodical innings, making 42 off 57 before being dismissed in the 23rd over with the score on 103 for 4. David Hooper and Thomas Kirk also took two wickets apiece for Guernsey.The feature game of the day at St Saviour between hosts Jersey and World T20 qualifiers Oman ended with no result after just nine overs of the Jersey chase could be completed due to persistent rain. The two sides will restart the game from scratch on Monday’s reserve day.The match began after a five-hour rain delay and was reduced to 23 overs a side with Jersey sending in Oman and restricting them to 132 for 9. Oman initially raced out to a superb start behind Zeeshan Maqsood, who made a streaky 29 off 14 balls before one too many top-edged pulls finally found Cornelis Bodenstein at deep square leg off Charles Perchard.Oman were looking good at 71 for 2 in the 12th over before offspinner Rhys Palmer disrupted the innings with the first of three wickets on the day. To the last ball of his first over, he induced a mistimed drive from Vaibhav Wategaonkar which was taken at mid-on by Anthony Hawkins-Kay for 26. Jatinder Singh was Palmer’s second victim, driving to Jonty Jenner at mid-off for 24 in the 18th before Mehran Khan’s brief assault on Palmer ended with a skied slog taken by a diving Ben Stevens charging in from point for 14 to make it 114 for 6 after 20.Brought back at the death, Perchard struck two more times to finish with 3 for 17. He claimed Rajesh Ranpura to a diving Peter Gough at midwicket for 3 before Aamir Kaleem was stumped for 10 by Jake Dunford standing up to Perchard’s medium pace.In reply, Jersey got off to a confident start behind Gough and Jenner, who added 46 for the first wicket. Jenner made 25 off 23 balls before he was trapped prodding forward against left-arm spinner Aamir Kaleem to end the eighth over. The rain became progressively heavier over the course of the next over before the umpires took the players off. It means both Jersey and Oman now face the prospect of playing five times in five days due to the scheduled rest day on Monday being used as a reserve day to replay the original encounter as a fresh 50-over game under WCL rules.

Toby Roland-Jones, the Middlesex seamer, has been handed his first England call-up and Gary Ballance has been recalled for the first Test against Pakistan at Lord’s.

Andrew McGlashan07-Jul-20162:50

Taylor: Surprised they’ve gone with Ballance

Toby Roland-Jones, the Middlesex seamer, has been handed his first England call-up and Gary Ballance has been recalled for the first Test against Pakistan at Lord’s, which starts from July 14. Injuries have kept Ben Stokes and James Anderson on the sidelines while Jos Buttler has not earned a recall.Roland-Jones, 28, a tall seam bowler, averages 25.17 in first-class cricket and has been on England’s radar for a few seasons. Yesterday he played a key role in a notable Middlesex victory over Yorkshire at Scarborough as he clubbed a quickfire unbeaten 79 and took three wickets in the second innings to finish with six in the match. Overall, he has 30 wickets at 29.06 in the County Championship this season; in 2015 he took 48 wickets at 27.04.Anderson has not recovered sufficiently from his shoulder injury while the selectors want Stokes to play more cricket after his return to action from knee surgery – he has yet to resume bowling for Durham although Trevor Bayliss hinted he may have been included as a batsman.

England squad

Alastair Cook (capt), Alex Hales, Joe Root, Gary Ballance, James Vince, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, Jake Ball, Steven Finn, Toby Roland-Jones

“Like always, selection is very opinionated, and they could have picked him but the lack of cricket in the last few weeks has meant they’ve gone that way,” Alastair Cook, the England captain, said. “He’s just back from a long time out of the game.”It has been confirmed that Joe Root will move up to No. 3 – something Bayliss has pushed for – to fill the spot vacated by Nick Compton which means Ballance, who was dropped during last year’s Ashes series, will return in the middle order. Ballance struck his first century of the season against Middlesex this week – he is averaging 33.64 in the Championship – and has fought off competition from the heavily tipped Scott Borthwick who averages 58.50 this season with three centuries.”He hasn’t changed a huge amount in terms of technique, just keep evolving it to keep it in as good a position as you can. What he does have is that hard edge,” Cook said.On Root’s promotion, Cook added: “It’s a conversation we’ve had over the last week, it’s the right thing to do, he’s our best player, and it’s quite an Australian thing to do. There’s no reason why he won’t score same amount of runs as at No. 4.”After the one-day series against Sri Lanka, Bayliss spoke highly of Buttler’s credentials and suggested he could return to the Test side as a batsman despite not having played first-class cricket since he was dropped in the UAE last year, but in the end that lack of red-ball cricket has been a deciding factor. It also means that Bairstow will retain the wicketkeeping gloves.”Those guys and Jason Roy, Tom Westley, Scott Borthwick were all discussed as very good options,” Cook said. “The argument with Jos is he hasn’t played red-ball cricket for a long time, you do need to know your method.”Jake Ball, the Nottinghamshire seamer, who was in each squad for the Sri Lanka series retains his place despite an elbow niggle and will likely compete for a spot in the final XI with Roland-Jones.”It’s disappointing that Jimmy hasn’t made it but Jake’s in the squad, he’s started the season in fantastic form,” Stuart Broad said. “He’s had a slight elbow niggle but he’s learnt a lot about his bowling in last 18 months and he’s ready to make that step up”He’s got physical attributes, he moves the ball both ways, comes round the wicket to the left-handers and hits the ball harder. You can’t make judgements about temperament, but he’s taken wickets on TV which is a good sign.”