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Mushfiqur Rahim, the Bangladesh captain, want his batsmen to at least chip in to complement those who go on to make bigger scores

Mohammad Isam in Hyderabad08-Feb-2017Mushfiqur Rahim, the Bangladesh captain, want his batsmen to chip in and complement those who go on to make bigger scores to help sustain momentum as their maiden Test on Indian soil progresses. In their previous two Tests, in New Zealand, only Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur managed scores of substance. In the second Test in Christchurch, they were bowled out for 286 after putting up a commendable show in the series opener in Wellington.”There’s no room for making 50s, 60s or 70s in Test cricket,” Mushfiqur said. “I know they have the ability, and I am pretty sure they can play big innings. You can have two big innings but three or four other batsmen also have to chip in. It always helps to get to a big total. Otherwise it becomes difficult for any team.”Bangladesh’s batsmen have also been inconsistent within a single Test – batting well in one innings and poorly in the other. Chandika Hathurusingha, the head coach, believes lack of concentration among the batsmen has stemmed from the reduced number of Tests – they have played just nine Tests in the last two years. In comparison, India are already through with the same number of Tests in the current season alone.”There is a problem but I don’t think it is insecurity,” Hathurusingha said. “It is probably the concentration factor. We haven’t played five-day cricket for long time, which is another issue. We can only improve by playing more five-day cricket. For the batters to concentrate for a long time and play under pressure, that’s what we need them to expose them to.”Chief among those who are posing a concern for the Bangladesh management is Mahmudullah who has been consistent in the limited-overs formats, but hasn’t been able to translate the same consistency at the Test level.”The problem is, he is not scoring runs. He is experienced, and has done well in other formats. It is a concern but it is another opportunity for him to show what he can do,” said Hathurusingha. “Previous failures can affect you, which is a challenge for him. It is a tough terrain here but I am hoping he will come through.”But he was more confident about Soumya Sarkar who as a stopgap opener in Christchurch, batted beautifully before falling for 86. Soumya was one of the breakout players during Bangladesh’s 2015 successes, but had fallen into a form dip for more than a year. Hathurusingha said that they want Soumya to think positively to get the most of him.”Good thing is that he is in form and confidence is up,” he said. “When someone is in form, their thought process is very clear. We hope that he will hang on to that thought process for long. He is a very talented player. It is a matter of taking away those daemons from his head. I hope he continues to impress.”The emotional quotient is also a factor within the Bangladesh team. They have shown tendencies to drop or lift their energy levels disproportionately, and to avoid this in the Hyderabad Test, itself a historic occasion, Hathurusingha hopes they can channel their emotional side to perform better.”We are all humans and we get emotional. How you control emotions is the best thing. If you use the emotion in a good way, by helping you performing better, I am all for it,” he said. “That’s one thing you see from the Indian captain [Virat Kohli]. He uses it to his advantage. The more you play, you can use emotion in a positive way.”

Shakib Al Hasan is the strongest candidate to replace Mashrafe Mortaza as Bangladesh’s T20I captain, according to BCB president Nazmul Hassan

Mohammad Isam05-Apr-2017Shakib Al Hasan is the strongest candidate to replace Mashrafe Mortaza as Bangladesh’s T20I captain, according to BCB president Nazmul Hassan, who said he wanted different captains for each format.The BCB had split the international captaincy in 2014, when Mushfiqur Rahim was stripped off the ODI and T20I leadership. Mashrafe became captain in the limited-overs formats and transformed Bangladesh into a competitive unit in two years. But now that Mashrafe has announced his retirement from T20Is, Hassan swiftly named his choice as successor, though Shakib has to be endorsed by the board of directors.”Shakib is the most likely candidate to take the T20 captaincy,” Hassan said. “We always had five candidates. Since Mashrafe and Mushfiqur are already captains, we only had Tamim, Mahmudullah and Shakib as the remaining ones. Shakib’s mental attitude and performance shows that he has matured, and is a full grown-up. He is ahead of the other candidates.”Hassan said Mashrafe will remain ODI captain. “There’s no chance of changing the ODI captaincy. One year ago we thought the Champions Trophy will be his last tournament, but now it seems he can play more.”He will play as long as he is fit. There’s no chance for him to be out of the squad. It is a different issue if the captain or coach thinks someone can play in his place.”Hassan also revealed a conversation he had with Tamim Iqbal, Shakib, Mushfiqur and Mashrafe in Colombo on Monday. He said he gave them a guarantee of a long-term place in the Bangladesh team, unless disciplinary issues arose. ESPNcricinfo learned the players understood that it was a confidential conversation, but Hassan divulged many of the contents of the meeting.”On the eve of the first T20, I spoke to Tamim, Shakib, Mushfiqur and Mashrafe. I told them that nobody can drop you given how much you’ve contributed to the team. At least until I am around. You have to make your own exit plan. If you play badly for a game or two, or even for a year, you won’t be dropped. Except disciplinary issues, you won’t be dropped for performance.”Who would drop Shakib? Tamim has been one of our best batsmen. Mushfiqur is our batting pillar. He is like our Rahul Dravid. Who would drop them? No question about it. Mashrafe is beyond performance. He doesn’t have to bat or bowl well. He has a lot of something different. It is hard to find another Mashrafe. His leadership quality, and his love for team and the country is a rare quality. I am not saying others don’t have it but his is of a different level.”

Stalemate descended upon the Fischer Ground as Leicestershire and Glamorgan consoled themselves they had found stability after uncertain starts to the season

ECB Reporters Network24-Apr-2017
Scorecard<!–Aneurin Donald ensured Glamorgan reached safety•Getty Images

An unbroken fifth wicket partnership of 87 between Aneurin Donald and Chris Cooke ensured Glamorgan secured a draw after the visitors, asked to chase an unlikely 355 off 57 overs, had subsided to 57 for 4 on the final evening of the Specsavers county championship match at the Fischer County Ground.The early dismissals of first innings centurions Nick Selman, leg below to a Clint McKay delivery which kept low, and Colin Ingram, lbw to a Ben Raine in-swinger, gave the Foxes hope of securing the win.Their chances increased when Zak Chappell produced a brute of a delivery which Glamorgan skipper Jacques Rudolph could only glove to wicket-keeper Lewis Hill, and had Cameron Delport, diving forward from point, not dropped Donald at point when he fended off a Charlie Shreck bouncer with the score on just 65, Leicestershire might well have enforced the win.As it was, however, McKay and Raine were both forced to leave the field with injuries, and though Eckersley shuffled his pack, Donald and Cooke were able to see the game to a conclusion eight overs before the scheduled close.Earlier, an unbeaten century from Mark Pettini, his first for Leicestershire at the Fischer County Ground, had enabled Eckersely to declare after Glamorgan’s seamers initially controlled the scoring rate to impressive effect.Fast bowler Marchant De Lange made two early breakthroughs, finding the edge of Eckersley’s bat with his second delivery of the day, Selman taking a comfortable catch at second slip, before Delport failed to middle an attempted drive and gave Lukas Carey the simplest of catches at mid-off.Pettini and Hill were given few opportunities to accelerate, and only when the front-line bowlers were rested were the batsmen able to improve the run rate. Pettini reached his century off 163 balls, and Raine struck three huge sixes off De Lange before Eckersley – not before time in the opinion of a number of Leicestershire supporters – called his batsmen in.

To stay competitive in the upcoming World Cup, the coach Hemantha Devapriya has helped the batsmen expand their games

Sa'adi Thawfeeq12-Jun-2017An increase in the hitting ability of the Sri Lanka women players should help them pose a greater threat in the upcoming Women’s World Cup, said their coach Hemantha Devapriya.”Since I took over six months ago, I’ve found out that our run-rate has not been that great and our batters’ strike-rate was not so efficient,” Devapriya said. “Other than Eshani Lokusuriyage and Chamari Atapattu who had strike-rates of a little over 60, others were below that, some under 40, which indicated that if Atapattu and Lokusuriyage scored we managed over 200 runs.”What they were lacking was creative shots and use of the feet. They were averaging only 41 singles per match. We worked on it and they improved it to 100 singles. We increased their shot range also, like using the pace of the ball. They were very negative on back-of-the-length balls and not creating a shot off that delivery. We practised with hard plastic balls on granite surfaces to overcome that issue. We also played a lot of practice games with Under-17 boys and in the last two games we managed to get over 200 runs.”It was also identified that improving skills alone will not be enough to stay competitive in the world of modern-day cricket. “Fitness was a big problem I had, especially with ageing players,” Devapriya said. “When you are not fit, it affects the fielding. Gradually, we increased their fitness workload coupled with fielding. At gym sessions, we introduced new exercises to develop the technique to generate power when batting. Overall, I had only six months and I never expected them to reach this standard. They developed very fast and their confidence has gone up.”Another thing in Sri Lanka’s favour is former captain Shashikala Siriwardene coming back from injury. “Her return has strengthened the team a lot,” Devapriya said. “She will make a big impact because she is an allrounder and she has the experience also. Her experience will be very useful in the middle.”Our aim is to try and finish in the top four [and] we have a fair chance of doing that. When you compare us with other teams, they are well ahead of us, but you never know in a tournament of this nature.”That left Sri Lanka’s traditional strength, their spin bowling. Devapriya was wary that conditions in England might not offer much turn, but given warm weather and a dry pitch, he backed his team to pull off a surprise or two.”At the moment, its cold 17 degrees hopefully if the Sun comes out it will be helpful. Those are things we can’t control. Our success will depend on getting a good score on the board and our key is spin. We select batters up to No. 6 and we have two spinners coming in Ama Kanchana and Shashikala,” said Devapriya.”You can swing the ball in the first 10 overs or so and once the swing goes our bowlers are not going to be that effective to get the batsmen out. We have two left-arm spinners as well and sometimes if the fast bowlers fail we may have to go with spin. We are going with a positive frame of mind to score runs and get wickets.”Sri Lanka will play three practice games against India, England and a county side before their first World Cup match against New Zealand on June 24.

With an estimated recovery period of two weeks for his ankle injury, Wahab Riaz will play no further part in the tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jun-20171:30

Tait: Junaid an able replacement for Wahab

Pakistan fast bowler Wahab Riaz will take no further part in the Champions Trophy, after injuring his ankle while bowling against India on Sunday. A scan confirmed a “deltoid ligament complex”, and Wahab will need two weeks to recover.Wahab, who returned the most expensive figures in the Champions Trophy with 87 off 8.1 wicketless overs against India, twisted his ankle in his follow-through in the 46th over of the innings. The PCB has put in a request for a replacement player to the ICC Technical Committee.In four ODIs this year, Wahab has conceded 260 runs and taken two wickets at an average of 130 and an economy rate of 7.72.Apart from Hasan Ali and Mohammad Amir, who was also forced off the field with cramps against India, Pakistan’s only other fast bowling options in the squad are Junaid Khan and allrounder Faheem Ashraf.Pakistan’s second group game is against South Africa on June 7, at Edgbaston.

Nottinghamshire’s seam bowler, Luke Fletcher, was taken to hospital after he was struck on the head in a serious-looking incident at Edgbaston, with the T20 Blast match against Birmingham Bears suspended while he received treatment

ESPNcricinfo staff and ECB Reporters Network08-Jul-2017
ScorecardLuke Fletcher was struck on the head while delivering his first ball of the night•Getty Images

Nottinghamshire seam bowler Luke Fletcher was struck on the head in a horrific incident at Edgbaston, with the NatWest T20 Blast match against Birmingham Bears suspended for half-an-hour while he received treatment.The fast-bowler was taken to hospital in an ambulance after he suffered the injury in the fourth over of Birmingham’s reply to Nottinghamshire’s 158 for six. Play eventually resumed with Birmingham stealing a six-wicket victory with a single on the final ball when Notts missed a run-out chance – although concern over Fletcher oversahadowed the chase.Fletcher’s first ball of the night, at the start of the fourth over with the score 30 for 0, was driven ferociously straight back by Sam Hain and struck him on the head in his follow-through.The umpire signalled instantly for medical assistance, and it was clear from the reaction of the players that they felt the incident was potentially very serious. Fletcher was concussed, but he did not lose consciousness and he was able to walk from the field aided by a physio with a towel over his head.He was attended to by paramedics in the dressing-room, and was taken to a Nottingham hospital for further examination. His team-mate, Jake Ball, later tweeted a picture of Fletcher, wearing an oxygen mask but with his thumbs up, adding: “Horrible injury to @fletcherluke but looks like he’s doing well off to hospital #legend” One of the most popular players in county cricket, Fletcher was given the warmest of ovations from the 9,000 crowd and, typically, waved in acknowledgement. But with the players visibly concerned, the decision was taken to temporarily halt the game.He later tweeted from hospital that it was time for some paracetamol.Notts Outlaws head coach Peter Moores said after the match: “Luke has obviously got concussion but the reports we’re hearing back are that they think he’s going to be fine and hopefully he will go home either tonight or tomorrow morning. It sounds good news at the moment and we’re looking forward to catching up with him when he’s back and hopefully OK.”Warwickshire were very understanding and, more importantly, efficient. They had a doctor on site straight away and the paramedics here. Credit too to James Pipe, our physio, he is meticulous in all trauma-related stuff as is Warwickshire’s physio, and they worked together straight away.”It’s nice to see that at any sporting venue, that everything is in place should something like that happen.”The increased threat to bowlers and umpires during a Twenty20 age in which power hitting has become the norm has led to some umpires considering protective headgear to guard against injury.After half an hour, it was agreed to resume and the Notts players were warmly applauded back on to the field. They fought brilliantly to defend their below-par total and almost succeeded before ultimately dropping their second game in 24 hours to begin this year’s campaign, but most thoughts were with Fletcher who lifted spirits with his thumbs-up signal to a camera from the back of the ambulance.Put in, Notts had been troubled by the spin of Jeetan Patel (4-0-22-4) but recovered from 28 for three to total 158 thanks principally to Samit Patel’s classy 55 and Steven Mullaney’s 46.The Bears’ ploy to open the bowling with Patel paid off as he took three wickets in his first 11 balls; Michael Lumb brilliantly caught by William Porterfield at mid-wicket, and Alex Hales and Rikki Wessels, pouched at cow corner by Hain.Patel then underpinned a recovery, adding 51 in 45 balls with Dan Christian (20, 27 balls) and 68 in 39 balls with Mullaney.Birmingham started strongly as Ian Bell and Hain took 30 from three overs before the game was halted in light of Fletcher’s injury. After the resumption, Hain soon sliced Harry Gurney to point and Porterfield ran himself out before Bell (47, 38 balls, five fours) lifted a reverse-sweep at Patel to Lumb at short third man.Birmingham required 40 from the last five overs and Grant Elliott and Rikki Clarke took 15 off the first of them. Elliott’s 38 (22 balls, four fours, one six) saw his side to the brink of a victory but Notts dug deep.Five runs from the last over, bowled by Christian, came down to one from the last ball, from which Colin De Grandhomme and Clarke scrambled the relevant single. But Notts should have claimed a tie as a relay from extra cover was fumbled by Michael Lumb standing over the non-striker’s stumps.

Kieron Pollard can add the Bloem City Blazers to his long list of T20 franchises, after he was picked by Bloemfontein – the first overseas marquee player scooped up at Saturday night’s T20 Global League player draft

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Aug-2017West Indies allrounder Kieron Pollard can add Bloem City Blazers to his long list of T20 teams, after he was picked by Bloemfontein as the first overseas marquee player at South Africa’s T20 Global League draft on Saturday.Pollard was one of three West Indians among the first five marquee picks. Chris Gayle was taken third by Cape Town Knight Riders, while Dwayne Bravo was taken fifth by Pretoria Mavericks. Squeezed in between was Brendon McCullum, the second pick, snapped up by Jo’Burg Giants, and Eoin Morgan who was taken fourth by Durban Qalandars.Kevin Pietersen will return to South African cricket with Nelson Mandela Bay Stars, after he was taken sixth by the Port Elizabeth-based franchise. England batsman Jason Roy was taken seventh by Benoni Zalmi and Lasith Malinga was assigned to Stellenbosch Monarchs by default as last designated marquee player available.The international marquee players joined the local marquee players who had already been assigned to each of the eight franchises, and on Sunday the teams participated in a much larger draft – to pick their remaining 16 players. Out of each squad of 18, there could be a maximum of five internationals and a minimum of two players from the rookie category.Shahid Afridi, who struck his maiden T20 hundred – 101 off 43 balls – earlier this week in the NatWest T20 Blast, will miss the T20 Global League because of his commitments with Dhaka Dynamites in the Bangladesh Premier League. Another Pakistan player Junaid Khan, who was picked by Nelson Mandela Bay Stars in the draft, also said he would be playing the BPL instead. The dates of the T20 Global League clash with the BPL schedule this year.
The T20 Global League will be played in eight cities across South Africa in November and December.Here’s how the teams stacked up:Benoni Zalmi – Quinton de Kock (local marquee), Jason Roy (international marquee), Albie Morkel (round one), Wahab Riaz (round two), Umar Akmal (round three), Lungi Ngidi (round four), David Wiese (round five), Eddie Leie (round six), Pite van Biljon (round seven),
Leus du Plooy (round eight), Dillon du Preez (round nine), Dean Elgar (round ten), Mohammad Nawaz (round 11), George Linde (round 12), Rivaldo Moonsamy (round 13), Calvin Savage (round 14), Carmi le Roux (round 15), Tshepo Moreki (round 16)
Bloem City Blazers (Bloemfontein) – David Miller (local marquee), Kieron Pollard (international marquee), Dane Paterson (round one), Chris Jordan (round two), Dwayne Smith (round three), Shaun von Burg (round four), Aaron Phangiso (round five), Morne Van Wyk (round six), Beuran Hendricks (round seven), Theunis de Bruyn (round eight), Janneman Malan (round nine), Ryan ten Doeschate (round ten), Clyde Fortuin (round 11), Rayad Emrit (round 12), Werner Coetsee (round 13), Yaseen Vallie (round 14), Akhona Mnyaka (round 15),
Keegan Petersen (round 16)
Cape Town Knight Riders – JP Duminy (local marquee), Chris Gayle (international marquee), Dale Steyn (round one), Adil Rashid (round two), Tom Curran (round three), Rassie van der Dussen (round four), James Vince (round five), Dwaine Pretorius (round six), Jason Smith (round seven), Rudi Second (round eight), Rory Kleinveldt (round nine), Malusi Siboto (round ten), Denesh Ramdin (round 11), Thomas Kaber (round 12), Senuran Muthusamy (round 13), Dayyaan Galiem (round 14), Pieter Malan (round 15), Aviwe Mgijima (round 16)
Durban Qalandars – Hashim Amla (local marquee), Eoin Morgan (international marquee), Chris Morris (round one), Sam Billings (round two), Mitchell McClenaghan (round three), Bjorn Fortuin (round four), Mohammad Hafeez (round five), Fakhar Zaman (round six), Junior Dala (round seven), Qaasim Adams (round eight), Migael Pretorius (round nine), Nicky van der Bergh (round ten), Prenelan Subrayen (round 11), Kelly Smuts (round 12), Marques Ackerman (round 13), Daryn Dupavillon (round 14), Mthokozisi Shezi (round 15), Cody Chetty (round 16)
Jo’burg Giants – Kagiso Rabada (local marquee), Brendon McCullum (international marquee), Colin Ingram (round one), Vernon Philander (round two), Andile Phehlukwayo (round three), Chris Jonker (round four), Temba Bavuma (round five), Patrick Kruger (round six),
Yasir Shah (round seven), Nicholas Pooran (round eight), Duanne Olivier (round nine), Jonathan Vandiar (round ten), Roelof van der Merwe (round 11), Andries Gous (round 12), Rabian Englebrecht (round 13), Dane Piedt (round 14), Andre Malan (round 15), Zubayr Hamza (round 16)
Nelson Mandela Bay Stars (Port Elizabeth) – Imran Tahir (local marquee), Kevin Pietersen (international marquee), JJ Smuts (round one), Aiden Markram (round two), Anwar Ali (round three), Heinrich Klaasen (round four), Junaid Khan (round five), Dawid Malan (round six), Sisanga Magala (round seven), Heino Kuhn (round eight), Andrew Birch (round nine), Colin Ackermann (round ten), Shadley van Schalkwyk (round 11), Sibonelo Makhanya (round 12), Wihan Lubbe (round 13), Grant Thomson (round 14), Lesiba Ngoepe (round 15), Ryan Rickleton (round 16)
Pretoria Mavericks – AB de Villiers (local marquee), Dwayne Bravo (international marquee), Morne Morkel (round one), Farhaan Behardien (round two), Dane Vilas (round three), Robbie Frylinck (round four), Keshav Maharaj (round five), Johan Botha (round six), Vaughn van Jaarsveld (round seven), Steven Finn (round eight), Reeza Hendricks (round nine), Diego Rosier (round ten), Khaya Zondo (round 11),
Eldred Hawken (round 12), Basheer Walters (round 13), Stephan Myburgh (round 14), Tony de Zorzi (round 15), Kyle Nipper (round 16)
Stellenbosch Monarchs – Faf du Plessis (local marquee), Lasith Malinga (international marquee), Alex Hales (round one), Tabraiz Shamsi (round two), Wayne Parnell (round three), Imad Wasim (round four), Henry Davids (round five), Mangaliso Mosehle (round six), Willem Mulder (round seven), Justin Ontong (round eight), Ryan McLaren (round nine), Brendan Taylor (round ten), Lizaad Williams (round 11), Jeevan Mendis (round 12), Rowan Richards (round 13), Craig Alexander (round 14), Grant Mokoena (round 15), Kyle Simmonds (round 16)

By 1959, at the end of a sorry decade for Indian cricket, not only
were there no bowlers in the country who could bowl anything
above military medium, but the batsmen also were getting bombarded
by pacemen from other countries

Partab Ramchand05-Sep-2017By 1959, at the end of a sorry decade for Indian cricket, not only
were there no bowlers in the country who could bowl anything
above military medium, but the batsmen also were getting bombarded
by pacemen from other countries. Through the decade, bowlers
like Ramchand and Phadkar gamely had carried on the Indian new
ball attack but their effectiveness had gradually declined. The
days when the Indian opening attack included names like Pataudi, Kunderan, Gavaskar, Wadekar and Subramanyam were still ahead but
the scenario was pretty desperate by the end of the fifties.It was at this stage that Ramakant Desai burst upon the scene. Not
yet 20, only around 5 feet, 6 inches in height and slightly built,
he seemed an unlikely prospect. But somehow from that comparatively tiny frame, he was able to unleash pace and bounce that disconcerted the best of Indian batsmen. A series of wicket taking performances
in his maiden season in first class cricket in 1958-59 saw him pitchforked into the Indian side to play West Indies in the final
Test of the series. The visitors had already wrapped up the series
by winning three successive Tests and it was taken for granted
that they would record a fourth straight triumph at the Kotla
ground in New Delhi.The selectors had cast the net around in trying to build a team
for the tour of England in 1959 and Desai got the nod for the
last Test. The heartless Kotla ground is not exactly the best
pitch for a fast bowler to be making his debut. But even as the
West Indies piled up the runs, Desai was the only bowler who was
not collared. Not only that, he surprised the much vaunted batting
line up – Holt, Hunte, Sobers, Kanhai, Butcher, Solomon, Smith –
with his pace and lift and even was bold enough to bounce the ball
at them. And at the end of the West Indies innings which lasted
two days and realised a total of 644 for eight declared, Desai
could walk back to the pavilion with his head high for he had
taken four wickets for 169 off 49 overs. His victims were Holt,
Kanhai, Smith and Sobers – a dream bag especially on one’s debut.
To put Desai’s feat in proper perspective, it must be pointed out
that the two great spinners Mankad and Gupte finished wicketless
after bowling 55 and 60 overs and conceding 167 and 144 runs respectively.So Desai had arrived and it did seem that Indian cricket had
discovered a medium fast bowler of quality. He finished with 50
wickets in his first Ranji Trophy season, a record that stood
till 1972-73 and embarked on his first tour with confidence. He
played in all five Tests in England in 1959 but his inexperience
showed and he was quite expensive. But he did enjoy a golden moment
in the second Test at Lord’s when he took five wickets for 89 runs
in the first innings. He fared better against Australia in 1959-60 taking four wickets in the first innings of the fourth Test at
Madras and repeated the feat in the final Test at Calcutta.By the time Pakistan came over the next season, Desai was at his
peak. He had even the great Hanif Mohammed hopping at times and
the legendary opening batsman was generally all at sea as Desai troubled him with his pace and bounce. He finished the series with
21 wickets. But he had a less happy time against England the
following season as also in the West Indies in 1962.By the early sixties, the Indian pitches had become so spin
oriented that pacemen were used for just a few overs. It was sad
to see a bowler like Desai reduced to this state and indeed he was
more out than in the team for some time. Still whenever he was
given a chance, he showed he still had a lot of fire in him as
proved by his four for 128 in New Zealand’s first innings at
Calcutta in 1965 and his six for 56 against the same opponents
in the next Test at Bombay. But by now, the Indian pitches were
heavily loaded against pacemen and he missed many matches – the
entire series against Australia in 1964-65, the entire series
against West Indies in 1966-67 and the tour of England in 1967.
He was however recalled for the tour of Australia and New Zealand
in 1967-68 but by now, he was no more the force he had once been.
The continued neglect by the selectors and the benign nature of
the pitches had discouraged him and with his own slight frame not
being able to take the load further, his effectiveness had been
greatly reduced and it was a matter of time before he called it
a day. Desai’s tale is one of the tragic episodes in Indian
cricket.Desai was no rabbit with the bat. He was good enough to get a
century in the Ranji Trophy final against Rajasthan in 1962-63.
And against Pakistan at Bombay two years before, he hit a brisk
85 dominating a ninth wicket partnership of 149 with PG Joshi,
which still stands as the Indian record. A popular team man,
Desai’s premature retirement was still a loss to Indian cricket.
Many years after his playing days were over, he emerged as the
chairman of the national selection committee. But it was a far
from happy tenure. By this time he had health problems and died following a heart attack shortly before his 59th birthday. Today
on his 61st birth anniversary, it is worth recalling the deeds
of `Tiny’ Desai who strove manfully in uphill conditions.

Henry Nicholls ended a lean series with an innings of 94, but there was little else for New Zealand A to feel pleased about as they lost their last nine wickets for 86 runs

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Oct-2017Getty Images

Karn Sharma took his third five-wicket haul in four matches as India A wrapped up a 2-0 series win with an innings-and-26-run demolition of New Zealand A in Vijayawada. Since the start of the Duleep Trophy last month, the legspinner has taken 31 wickets in four first-class games at an average of 15.29.New Zealand A began the fourth day at 104 for 1, needing a further 132 to make India bat again. Jeet Raval and Henry Nicholls were both well-established at the crease, having put on 85 for the second wicket. They had extended their partnership for a further 11.3 overs when Raval was lbw to the left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem for 47.That wicket opened the floodgates, as Nadeem and Karn ran through the visitors, who lost their last nine wickets for 86 runs. Apart from Nicholls and Raval, no other batsman got to 15.Nicholls was sixth out, ending an otherwise lean series – he had made 5, 1 and 0 in his three previous innings – with a 190-ball 94 containing 11 fours and a six.

James Anderson says that England’s cricketers must focus solely on their own preparations in the build-up to this winter’s Ashes, and ignore the fall-out from the Ben Stokes incident

Andrew Miller04-Oct-2017James Anderson says that England’s cricketers must focus solely on their own preparations in the build-up to this winter’s Ashes, and tackle the team dynamics when they reconvene as a squad at the end of the month, as the fall-out from the Ben Stokes incident continues to overshadow the build-up to their biggest challenge of the year.Stokes’ hopes of being retained in England’s Ashes plans are very much in the balance. Though he is expected to be retained on the ECB’s list of centrally contracted players, due to be unveiled this week, Avon and Somerset Police are still investigating the incident that took place outside Mbargo nightclub in the wake of England’s ODI victory over West Indies last Monday.But regardless of whether Stokes is able to make the trip or not, Anderson retains the belief that England can emerge triumphant from what will be his fourth Ashes campaign in Australia, so long as each of the squad members can keep their eyes on the prize ahead of their departure on October 28.”What we need to do as a team, whether the things that are happening happen or not, the next few weeks are about getting yourself ready as an individual to play in an Ashes series,” Anderson told ESPNcricinfo. “From my point of view I’ll be bowling at Lancashire, getting in the gym, trying to stay fit, and getting ready for that challenge when we get over there. That’s all we can do. Prepare yourself as an individual and when we get there, we can galvanise as a team.”Already, however, the Stokes incident has guaranteed that England’s traditionally robust welcome from Australia’s fans and media will be stepped up an extra level or two. And Anderson, who has endured two 5-0 whitewashes either side of a series-winning haul of 24 wickets on the 2010-11 tour, knows more than any England player about the unique challenges of playing Down Under.”You’ve got to prepare yourself for that,” he said “The fans are very passionate about cricket in Australia, but at the same time they are knowledgable and if you give them something back they’ll embrace it. If you perform well, they’ll embrace it, and respect you for it. What we’ve got to focus on is performing well, and if you can do that, everything else will take care of itself.”Anderson was speaking ahead of the PCA Awards dinner, English cricket’s traditional end-of-season get-together in London. The night offers an opportunity for players from all counties to let their hair down after a tough season, although in light of the events in Bristol last week – and the ECB’s subsequent investigations into the England team culture – several players are likely to be more guarded in their celebrations than might ordinarily have been the case.Nevertheless, both Andrew Strauss, the director of England cricket, and Trevor Bayliss, the coach, have reiterated in the past week the importance of allowing players to let off steam during high-profile series, and Anderson admitted he did not yet know what the management’s attitude towards nights out would be during the Australia campaign.”I’m not sure how things are going to go,” Anderson said. “We are obviously going to speak as a team when we get out there but, at the minute, we’re just trying to prepare for the cricket we are going to play out there, and get ourselves in the best shape to compete with Australia.”On a personal note, Anderson heads to Australia in some of the best form of his already extraordinary career. He claimed 39 wickets in seven Tests against South Africa and West Indies this summer, and crucially managed to stay fit throughout, having missed eight Tests through injury in the previous two years.”The summer’s gone better than I would have expected,” he said. “At the start of the summer I was with Lancashire and got an injury or two, which was quite frustrating, but when I got the chance to play in the Test matches, I knew I was bowling well so I knew that if I could stay on the field, then I’d be in a good place”It’s been one of those summers. It’s been a good patch for me, a hot patch, everything has gone my way. Even my bad balls have been getting edges, so it’s one of those things you’ve got to make the most of.”In the course of the season, he notched up another notable landmark during the Lord’s Test against West Indies, when he became only the third fast bowler, and sixth overall, to reach 500 Test wickets. At the age of 35, he’s determined to keep enjoying the game while he can.”For me, there’s no sort of target or goal,” he said. “My sole purpose is to stay fit, stay on the field, and contribute to England winning games of cricket. I’m glad that I did that this summer, and hope I can keep doing it in the future.”As for the challenge of winning in Australia and banishing the memories of England’s painful defeat on the last tour in 2013-14, Anderson said: “I don’t know if it’s unfinished business but it’s an exciting time for us.”We’ve got a lot of players who haven’t played in an Ashes tour before, and from an Englishman’s point of view, playing an Ashes in Australia, if you can win there that is the biggest accolade you can get from a team sport in cricket. It’s a huge thing but it can be so enjoyable if you go about it the right way.”