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It is not often that the first day of a four-day game begins and ends under floodlights. But Owais Shah didn’t seem to mind as he landed some telling blows for Essex on day where the September sun was second best.

Vithushan Ehantharajah at Canterbury11-Sep-2013
ScorecardOwais Shah made valuable runs for Essex•Getty Images

It is not often that the first day of a four-day game begins and ends under floodlights. But Owais Shah didn’t seem to mind as he landed some telling blows for Essex on day where the September sun was second best.The artificial lights, which were restarted as the players walked off at 4:21pm, allowed us a prompt start yet failed to salvage the 19 overs left in the day, which Kent probably edged on points.Thanks to Shah, and Gautam Gambhir who has returned from India, the visitors lost only two wickets in the first session: a morning fraught with danger but navigated by experience.Inserted by Geraint Jones – standing in for James Tredwell, who is away on international duty – the combination of a chilly morning, a spicy track and artificial lighting was always likely to assist Kent’s bowlers.The third ball of the day popped on Jaik Mickleburgh for a simple catch to Daniel Bell-Drummond at forward short-leg. Eleven overs later, Darren Stevens nipped one away from Greg Smith, who nicked the ball to Adam Riley in the slips with only 19 on the board. But despite some probing spells – Mark Davies’ opening seven overs, which included five maidens and the wicket of Mickleburgh, went for just three runs – Shah and Gambhir left the ball with ease.There were a couple of missed opportunities. Jones made up good ground to give him an outside chance of clinging to a top-edge from Shah, on 7 at the time, but was unable to make up the ground fully with an impressive dive. An over later, Gambhir was out of the frame when crossed wires had him skipping out of his crease for a run that Shah had no intention of making. The throw from point was off target by a whisker if the reaction of the fielders was anything to go by.When Gambhir failed to make his hard work count, dropping his back knee to dispatch a beautiful looking drive off Charlie Shreck into the hands Brendan Nash at cover-point, something stirred within Shah.Having not scored a post-lunch run up to that point, he freed his arms to put the pressure on Kent’s bowlers, most notably Davies; a trio of fours in the 52nd over – one square, one over mid-on and one straight – taking the score past 100. He then brought up his fifty off 118 balls (his first of the season), with a sumptuous late-cut off the same bowler that contained all the elegances associated with the stroke, but with the added oomph that Shah generates from his dexterous wrists.Ben Foakes came to the crease at 117 for 4 – after Ryan ten Doeschate was lbw attempting to sweep to Riley’s very first ball – to assist Shah, as they scored at exactly three an over to ensure they made the most of the best batting conditions of the day. The morning of day two will be another test, but Shah, with over four hours at the crease under his belt, has shown he has enough game to thrive on this pitch. Foakes certainly has enough about him to do the same, and their survival could see some quick, valuable runs added before 110 overs are through.

Five weeks to go and one or two at the wrong end of the table are starting to get twitchy, including now Nottinghamshire

Jon Culley at Trent Bridge21-Aug-2013
ScorecardLuke Fletcher has a vital part to play in the rest of Nottinghamshire’s season•Getty Images

Five weeks to go and one or two at the wrong end of the table are starting to get twitchy, including now Nottinghamshire, whose director of cricket, Mick Newell, took the opportunity on the eve of this match to warn his players that if they think that relegation cannot sneak up they would be foolish.Their season is in danger of ending poorly. Beaten in the quarter-finals of the FLt20 and stuttering a little in the YB40, in which they have lost their last two matches, they are not yet secure in the LV= Championship. Newell made a point, it seems, of highlighting the need to buck up ideas, mentioning in particular his side’s failure to take 20 wickets in a match since early in the season and stressing that with fitness issues an ongoing concern for Andre Adams, someone else among the bowlers would have to make an impact.Newell fears that Adams, who turned 38 last month, will have to be nursed through the remaining five matches after recurring problems with calf and hamstring injuries, so it will have come as a relief to him that Luke Fletcher was able to pick up his first five-wicket haul for two years, even if the pleasure was tempered somewhat by watching the big seamer flat on his back being treated for cramp two balls into his 25th over, ending his involvement in the day.He should recover with rest overnight, which is just as well for Nottinghamshire after a performance that brought some balance after Yorkshire, asked to bat first, on a hard pitch with some grass left on it, batted with adventure. The match is important for them, at the other end of the table, with a 10-point lead over Sussex ripe to be extended.That Yorkshire should have a chance of marking their 150th year with the title is all the more worthy for having managed so often without Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow. Bairstow drove up the M1 to join this match after being released by England at The Oval and Yorkshire’s closing position after day one is strengthened by the fact that he will begin day two at the crease, his entrance having been delayed. It might be enough to secure an extra batting point.Bairstow’s return is countered by the absence of Gary Ballance with England Lions, although in anticipation of that Yorkshire moved last week to recruit the New Zealand batsman, Kane Williamson, for the remainder of the season. Williamson, who had not batted in a first-class match since the second Test against England in May, steered his first ball to third slip in succumbing for a duck and Yorkshire will hope the rustiness does not last long.His dismissal put Fletcher on a hat-trick after a beautiful delivery had accounted for Andrew Gale, who was looking in ominously good order before he was caught behind for 33.Yet Gale will look on the day’s work as a respectably good one by his side. There were frustrations for Adam Lyth and Adil Rashid, both of whom might have made hundreds, but any total above 300 after being put in can be seen as a success.Lyth went closest to a century and will curse himself, given that he was only five away from his second of the season. Dropped on 33 – a difficult chance to Patel at third slip off Adams – he had played fluently for the most part, revelling in the licence to drive, when he became Fletcher’s fourth victim, playing needlessly outside off stump and getting himself caught behind. He had hit 14 boundaries and, at that point, might have been wise to be more circumspect.The catch enabled Chris Read to draw level with Bruce French’s tally of 737 victims from catches as the county’s most successful post-war wicketkeeper. The two more he pouched later to improve Harry Gurney’s figures provides the statistical evidence to support claims that Read is Nottinghamshire’s finest gloveman of all time, although there is some evidence, apparently not verified beyond all doubt, that Tom Oates, who kept from 1897 to 1925, finished his career with 744.Rashid, who survived Fletcher’s hat-trick ball before producing a typically elegant innings of sometimes deliciously timed shots, added 78 before Fletcher had him leg before on the back foot, after which Liam Plunkett’s bold 41 secured a third point and an air of satisfaction in the Yorkshire dressing room that will not have been matches in the one above them.

Durham clinched the LV= County Championship title by wrapping up a routine eight-wicket win over Nottinghamshire on a rain-delayed third day at Chester-le-Street

George Dobell at Chester-le-Street19-Sep-2013
ScorecardDurham captain Paul Collingwood and his team-mates celebrate with the Championship trophy•PA Photos

It is often stated that there are too many first-class counties. That, if a few were merged, the concentration of talent within the England domestic game would improve the overall standard.Durham prove the shallowness of that argument. They prove that the talent pool is not finite and that, if you take the time to nurture and develop young players, provide inspiration and opportunity, you will, in time, reap what you sow.Durham have just celebrated their 21st birthday as a first-class club with their third County Championship title in six seasons. What is more, they have done it with a team – and it really is a team rather than a collection of individuals – drawn from the community they represent. They have done it through years of identifying the best young players in the region and providing them with the best coaching and the most opportunities they can manage. In an age where it is common for teams in all sports to buy success, Durham have done it the old-fashioned way.But if Durham did not have first-class status, this could never have happened. At best, a few of their players would have found a home at other counties. Realistically, many of them would have been lost to the game. They have not only vindicated the decision to take first-class cricket to the northeast of England, but the decision to persist with 18 first-class counties. In a perfect world, there might even be more.There were some common themes in the words of the architects of Durham’s success as the champagne corks popped. One was the shared respect and affection everyone at this club has for the head coach, Geoff Cook, and the unifying effect the shock of his illness provided on the entire club. “I know every man in that dressing room wanted to do it for Geoff,” Paul Collingwood said as he clutched the trophy.Another was the spirit created by the shared background of so many of those involved. Not just the players, but many of the coaching staff and the administrative staff, too. Again and again, they spoke of the “spirit of people from the northeast” as a contributory factor in Durham’s ability to rise to the many challenges they faced.Collingwood put it like this: “We kept getting tested every, single game. Something happens that just keeps testing us and somehow we keep showing the resolve. I don’t know what it is. It seems to be inside the northeast people. They just want to fight. They keep fighting. And these youngsters have just fought all year, through adversity, whether it be financial situations or Geoff Cook’s illness. People have grown. Seeing the youngsters blossom has been absolutely wonderful.”David Harker, the Durham chief executive, agreed. “I don’t like to talk about it too much,” he said, of that fact so many people at the club hail from the northeast, “because it can seem arrogant or parochial, but I believe there is something special.”There is a sense of camaraderie; there is a sense of belonging to something that extends beyond the eleven guys in the dressing room. There is a sense of roots and pride. Culture is a consistent pattern of behaviour over time and these guys have grown up together, they know each other and they are comfortable with each other, they have similar background so there is a cohesion here that helps fuel team spirit.”None of this means there is anything inherently better about the spirit of people in the northeast to those in Sussex, or Somerset or Lancashire or Yorkshire. Indeed, several of those clubs have enjoyed success with a similar ethos to Durham. It is just that, while some teams sometimes struggle to maintain a shared vision or shared values, Durham have fashioned a team that have graduated through the same system and understand each other and the culture of the club. When times are hard, when players are forced to find that little extra, these things matter.Newcastle-born Mark Stoneman gets a hug from former captain Will Smith after hitting the winning runs•Getty Images

Times have been hard, too. While half-a-dozen other counties spent their pre-seasons in Barbados, Durham had only two days of grass nets before their first game. They could not even afford the marquees that were utilised by the likes of Essex and Middlesex.Instead, they climbed Beinn Dubh, a mountain in the Loch Lomond region. The entire playing and coaching team helped one another through snow and ice to reach the summit. Collingwood insists that, as a team building exercise it was invaluable. As a metaphor for their success, it also works neatly. They’ve been climbing mountains all season.Then there was the loss of Dale Benkenstein to injury, the heart attack suffered by Cook, the inability of the club to afford an overseas player or other new recruits and the loss, to various England squads, of key players. They lost two of their first three matches, too.It is in times of such adversity that team spirit is worth more than expensive overseas players or players from other counties seeking to advance their individual careers.Collingwood felt that the seven-wicket victory over Yorkshire at Scarborough at the end of August – a game he described “as close as you can get to Test cricket” – was the moment he knew his side could win this title. In it, Stokes scored a century and delivered 33 second-innings overs; a herculean effort.In truth, however, Durham had been building ever since July 29, 2012, when they won their first game of the previous season by 15 runs against Middlesex. The appointment of Collingwood as captain changed everything.In some ways, Durham have made a virtue of necessity. Had they had the finance, they would have signed several players ahead of this season: Jacques Rudolph, James Harris and Jack Brooks among them. Scott Borthwick, who requires 15 more for 1000 Championship runs, would probably not have batted at No. 3 and Mark Wood, a fast bowler in the Simon Jones mould, might never have played.But times have changed. Next year the club will spend around £1.2m on player salaries compared to a total of around £1.9m to the end of March 2012. The likes of Ian Blackwell, Liam Plunkett and Michael De Venuto have already gone. Steve Harmison will soon join them. There is a danger that, with Collingwood a year away from retirement, Ben Stokes on the verge of an England career and Graham Onions now 31 and carrying a huge burden, that the pace of change may need to slow. Youth is wonderful, but it requires leadership.Such issues can wait. With one game to play, Durham have the chance to win a record 11 games in a Division One season and extend their club record winning streak to six successive Championship games.They have produced, from boyhood to manhood, a side that not only deserves the greatest prize in English domestic cricket but that contains one or two players who could benefit the England team for a generation. They have done exactly what county cricket is supposed to do and emerged as a reminder to their rivals of the virtues of self-reliance and developing local players.

Lancashire retain an outside chance of a third successive victory at Wantage Road, after they took two Northamptonshire wickets before the close on the third day of their Championship match

Press Association05-May-2015
ScorecardPeter Siddle survived to make 89 as Lancashire took a valuable first-innings lead•Getty Images

Lancashire retain an outside chance of a third successive victory at Wantage Road, after they took two Northamptonshire wickets before the close on the third day of their Championship match. The Division Two leaders lead by nine runs, with the home side 42 for 2 in the second innings after Lancashire were dismissed for 436.Overnight rain saw play start two hours later than scheduled, with Lancashire resuming on 216 for 4. A swirling and unremitting gale necessitated the removal of the bails for virtually the whole day’s play; such was its power that, at one stage, the umpires had to make sure the uncovered stumps stayed in the ground.Rory Kleinveldt – who wore a beanie hat underneath his cap for extra warmth in the field – drew the short straw of bowling into the wind. But the powerful South African extracted bounce when Alex Davies chipped the catch to midwicket, after adding just four to his overnight score.Jordan Clark negotiated four balls before edging Kleinveldt behind to Adam Rossington without scoring and, after the first 15 minutes of play, Lancashire were 221 for 6 and still 164 behind.But Ashwell Prince, who was 104 not out overnight, found support from Peter Siddle, who batted sensibly while he and the 37-year-old added exactly 100 for the seventh wicket. The Australian, who had been ill 24 hours earlier, looked the picture of health at the crease, punishing anything loose from the Northamptonshire attack.Prince was also reassuring, with his off-side drives a constant source of anguish for the home seam attack, one such stroke off Steven Crook bringing up his 150 off 268 balls. Crook then induced Prince to pop up to substitute David Murphy and Alex Wakely’s side could be forgiven for relief after enduring Prince’s career-best 257 not out in last year’s innings defeat at Old Trafford.Siddle returns home after Lancashire’s next Championship game against Gloucestershire but he delivered for his employers here, reaching his 50 off 95 balls. But before visions of only a second first-class century became reality, he was lbw to Kleinveldt for 89, the fifth wicket for the South African and his first five-wicket haul in Northamptonshire colours.Trailing by 51, Northamptonshire were hampered with Richard Levi not batting due to a dislocated finger. Replacement opener Rob Newton lasted just one delivery, caught at midwicket off Kyle Jarvis. Wakely’s indeterminate waft outside off stump added more pressure when he edged Siddle for a catch behind to leave Northants wobbling on 13 for 2.Despite a brief pause for bad light, Stephen Peters and Rob Keogh saw the home side to close for no further loss. But Siddle believes his side can claim victory, despite the pitch remaining true.”It’s not too bad out there, one end is a lot worse than the other to bowl at, so it’s going to be hard work,” he said. “We’ve just got to be patient. The wicket’s not offering up much so we can just bowl in good areas and see what happens.”I didn’t expect to be out batting so soon today, but Ashwell Prince is a class player. He showed that again today. It was good fun. It was a bit windy and cold so I didn’t want to bowl. So I thought if I batted longer, it would reduce my overs.Northants Head Coach David Ripley is hopeful his side can see the final day out for the draw. “That was an important little partnership there between Stephen and Rob,” he said. “It was a difficult session where Lancashire could come and give it everything and it was important that they got through those overs unscathed. We’ve still got to have a good first hour, hour and a half to hopefully get us the draw.”

Craig McMillan knows a little bit about stratospheric one-day performances but New Zealand’s batting coach was unwilling to predict how much further teams could go

Alan Gardner13-Jun-20151:22

‘Not right to be easier to bowl in T20 than ODI’ – Taylor

Craig McMillan knows a little bit about stratospheric one-day performances but, after seeing more than 760 runs scored in 96 overs at The Oval on Friday night, New Zealand’s batting coach was unwilling to predict how much further teams could go.It is more than eight years since McMillan played a key role in New Zealand overhauling totals of 336 and 346 against Australia in consecutive matches – still two of the five highest successful chases in the format. McMillan’s 67-ball hundred in the third ODI was the fastest by a New Zealander until Corey Anderson and Jesse Ryder both breezed past the mark at the start of 2014.That final match in Hamilton in 2007 saw 696 runs scored, albeit within the bijou dimensions of Seddon Park, and was at the time the second-highest match aggregate in history. It has since been pushed down to 10th, with six of the new entries coming in the last two years. Changes to the ODI playing regulations recommended by the ICC cricket committee may shift the balance once again but McMillan’s suggestion that “400 might well be the new 300″ no longer seems outlandish.”I wouldn’t like to put framework on it, I don’t know,” McMillan said when asked about the expansion of batting horizons. “T20 cricket has changed the perception of one-day cricket and what is possible and what’s not. I would think it’s pretty hard to beat 400 against quality opposition but with some of the grounds you play on, where the boundaries aren’t big and you play on good, true surfaces, anything’s possible, really.””These two sides, we’ve got two attacking batting line-ups that are going pretty hard at one another. I think with the pitches we’re going to face in the remaining three matches, 400 might well be the new 300. It’s also T20 cricket coming to the fore, batsmen play with no fear so chasing seven, eight an over is not a big deal anymore.”After two matches in favourable batting conditions, this series is already beginning to resemble a subcontinental run fest, where bowlers are little more than fodder. At Edgbaston, New Zealand took a wicket with the first ball of the match but ended up conceding 408; this time, Steven Finn got through a maiden before the fireworks began. Even with a target off 399 to back them up, New Zealand’s attack only just held out.A couple of winters ago, India and Australia gave it some relentless pongo during a series that looked to have redefined the game – particularly in the wake of the rule changes that brought such attacking cricket at the World Cup. Then, the overall run rate was 6.64 over six matches (one of which was a no result due to rain); currently, England and New Zealand are trading blows at a rate of 7.72 runs per over.New Zealand’s 398 for 5 at The Oval was the second-highest total in their ODI history – and their best against a fellow Test nation – but there was an ominous sense of control about the way the runs came. Of the top four, only Brendon McCullum scored at significantly more than a run a ball in the first 35 overs, with Ross Taylor opening up towards the end for an unbeaten 119 off 96 and Grant Elliott and Luke Ronchi providing further impetus lower down.Underpinning it all was solid partnership-building, with 50-plus scores for each of the first four wickets – their smallest was 45 for the fifth – leaving McMillan very satisfied.”It was a very professional batting effort, to have partnerships all the way through really set the platform for that big total,” McMillan said. “McCullum and Guptill probably set the tone, then the partnership between Kane and Ross set the platform and it allowed guys like Elliott and Ronchi to come in and play their cameos. In many ways it was close to the perfect batting performance.”English conditions could once be relied on to even the contest between batmen and bowlers, even with the white ball, but the absence of swing so far has neutered a strength of both attacks. Another generous batting surface is expected at the Ageas Bowl, a ground on which New Zealand cracked 359 for 3 in 2013. Records may continue to tumble.”It’s been a difficult series for the bowlers so far, I think they’re looking forward to a pitch with a little bit more help at some stage,” McMillan said. “But it is something we need to keep working on, I think we made improvements from Edgbaston. England came very hard at us last night, harder than at Edgbaston but the boys got the job done.”There’s very little help, you usually see with the new balls a little bit of swing. That’s one of the challenges for them at the moment, when the ball doe\sn’t do anything, what’s your gameplan? You have to be able to adjust and be flexible. It’s a continual discussion among the bowling group, with Dimi Mascarenhas as well. I think we’ve seen from the first two games it’s going to be a tough series for the bowlers.”

Glamorgan and Leicestershire are locked together after two tough days on a pitch not eager to give rewards to all concerned

ECB/PA23-Jun-2015
ScorecardMatt Boyce struck a cautious half-cejtury [file picture]•Getty Images

At the close of an intriguing day’s play, Glamorgan were 64 for 2, a lead of 89, in their second innings on a pitch where the bowlers had to work hard for any reward. Most Leicestershire batsmen contributed but no one went on to reach the close with a substantial score, with Matthew Boyce top scoring with a patient half century.Andrew Salter, the Glamorgan offspinner, bowled a lengthy spell of 30 overs, taking 2 for 64, and although he obtained minimal turn, the pitch is likely to respond to spin as the game progresses.Leicestershire resumed on 37 for 1 and soon lost Ned Eckersley who was bowled by Craig Meschede in the second over of the day. Mark Cosgrove, the Leicestershire captain, was given a rousing reception by the home crowd as a former Glamorgan player and he put on 64 with Boyce before Cosgrove was well taken at short leg off Salter- although the batsman clearly disagreed with the umpire’s decision.Andrea Agathangelou, after a quiet start, played positively, striking Salter for three fours in an over and was nearing his fifty when he had his off stump knocked back by MeschedeNiall O’ Brien was another batsman who became established before he was dismissed, flicking the ball down the leg side to the wicketkeeper. Salter bowled nearly all his overs from the River End, with the seamers rotating from the opposite end, and they all made a contribution with Hogan taking three wickets.Glamorgan gained a slender lead of 25 on first innings, but they were soon in trouble at the start of their second innings when Bragg was caught behind from the fourth ball of the second over, while Ben Wright edged to slip in the following over.At that stage, Glamorgan were 1 for 2, and it required some stability from Jacques Rudolph and Colin Ingram to dig them out of a hole. They had to contend with some quality seam bowling from Clint McKay and Ben Raine, but both remained steadfast until the close with Ingram the more aggressive of the two.

Gloucestershire dominated the final day of their LV= County Championship game at Cheltenham, beating Leicestershire by 155 runs to register back-to-back wins in a season at the picturesque college ground for the first time since 1998

ECB/PA18-Jul-2015
ScorecardCraig Miles took three wickets to help Gloucestershire complete victory•Getty Images

Gloucestershire dominated the final day of their LV= County Championship game at Cheltenham, beating Leicestershire by 155 runs to register back-to-back wins in a season at the picturesque college ground for the first time since 1998.Having set the visitors 325 to win a four-day game for only the second time this summer, Gloucestershire were never in any danger of losing a contest – and they finally wrapped up victory shortly before tea.Leicestershire, who are still rooted firmly to the foot of Division Two, have now lost eight Championship matches.The visitors resumed on their overnight total of 11 without loss – but soon found themselves in trouble when Angus Robson and Ned Eckersley departed off successive balls from Craig Miles.Robson had his off stump removed by Miles off the first ball of the 13th over and Eckersley edged the seamer to Michael Klinger at slip, off the next delivery.Mark Cosgrove and Matt Boyce dropped anchor as Leicestershire swapped their run chase for survival. However, the introduction of Kieran Noema-Barnett brought about the downfall of Boyce, leg before wicket for 22 at 61 for 3 – and in the next over, Cosgrove was trapped lbw by Benny Howell’s third ball of the innings.To compound a bad morning for Leicestershire, Greg Smith edged James Fuller to Chris Dent at second slip to leave Leicestershire struggling at 77 for 5 at lunch.If the morning session had been rewarding for Gloucestershire, the afternoon session was equally impressive, despite the efforts of Aadil Ali and Ben Raine. The pair came together when Leicestershire wicketkeeper Lewis Hill was brilliantly caught at gully, by sub Miles Hammond, off the bowling of Miles.Ali, who made his Championship debut against Kent last week, led the way with Raine providing stern support until a slice of misfortune brought to an end their 54-run partnership for the seventh wicket.Having hit Jack Taylor for a straight six, over long-off, Ali’s next straight drive was deflected back onto the stumps at the non-striker’s end, by Taylor, with Raine stranded out of his crease. Ali added another six, over midwicket, to move on to 41, but off the next ball holed out to Fuller at mid-off.Jigar Naik followed next ball, caught at leg slip and though Charlie Shreck was dropped at slip by Klinger off Noema-Barnett in the 64th over, the game was over when Liam Norwell had Clint McKay caught behind for 18.

Dilip Vengsarkar, former India captain and vice-president of the Mumbai Cricket Association, has criticized Sairaj Bahutule’s decision to join Bengal a fortnight after he was appointed Mumbai Under-23 coach, calling the legspinner’s approach “unethical”

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Aug-2015Dilip Vengsarkar, vice-president of the Mumbai Cricket Association, has said that former India legspinner Sairaj Bahutule’s decision to coach the Bengal team is “unethical”. Vengsarkar criticised Bahutule for accepting the role with Bengal only a fortnight after he was appointed coach of the Mumbai Under-23 side and was also one of the coaches in MCA’s new spin-bowling academy.According to Vengsarkar, the abrupt move had shown the former legspinner in poor light.”To put it bluntly, Bahutule has been unethical in his approach, especially when we had appointed him for a salary that was agreed upon and he had been coaching the Under-23 squad for the last two weeks,” Vengsarkar told the .”At the MCA, we were happy when he showed a lot of interest in coming to Mumbai after his stint with Vidarbha and later Kerala as coach. We were keen to have as many former Mumbai players, captains under the same umbrella as we could, for they are very much aware of the work ethics of a Mumbai cricketer.”That he would do something like this behind our back is unimaginable. If he wanted to coach a Ranji team, why did he leave Vidarbha and then Kerala, or was he asked to leave? If he is getting a job to coach a Ranji side, then would he leave the same team halfway through if he is offered to coach say Bangladesh or Zimbabwe? The whole episode has shown him in extremely poor light.”Vengsarkar is not the only one peeved with the incident. Bahutule’s predecessor in the Bengal team, Ashok Malhotra, said the Cricket Association of Bengal could have been “more professional” and informed him directly of his ouster. Malhotra found out about the CAB’s decision through media reports after joint secretary Sourav Ganguly announced Bahutule’s appointment while speaking with reporters in New Delhi on Monday night. Malhotra had coached the side for the last two seasons.”I could have been told by the CAB of their decision personally,” Malhotra told the . “As a former player who has represented the state and also a coach, would that be too much to expect? I learnt about my fate from the media.”I must say that I expected CAB to be more professional. There are no hard feelings, but yes, these things could certainly have been done in a better way.”

Fast bowler Jason Holder has replaced Denesh Ramdin as captain of West Indies for the upcoming Test matches against Sri Lanka

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Sep-2015Jason Holder has replaced Denesh Ramdin as captain of West Indies for the upcoming two-Test series against Sri Lanka, which starts on October 14. A WICB media release stated that Holder’s appointment “was recommended by the selection panel and endorsed unanimously by the directors during a teleconference meeting on Wednesday.”

West Indies squad

IN
Jomel Warrican, Carlos Brathwaite
OUT
Veerasamy Permaul

Clive Lloyd, the head of the the selection committee, believed it was “the right time for a change”, and backed the 23-year-old Holder to guide a young West Indies team forward. Holder had also been appointed ODI captain last December, but Lloyd said the selectors didn’t want to burden Holder further by giving him the reins even in T20s.”We expect to get new thinking and new dynamism from him,” Lloyd said. “Jason commands respect. He is a fine young man, very intelligent and he seems to get the best from the players because he is a straightforward guy. I think the players will warm to him. He has a young bunch of players and we feel he can guide them in the manner that is required for internationals.”We do not want to any captain to lead in all three formats just now. It would be quite burdensome on anyone. We think we can have a separate Twenty20 captain.”Opening batsman Kraigg Brathwaite will be Holder’s deputy in Sri Lanka. The squad contains two uncapped players in fast bowler Carlos Brathwaite and left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican, both of whom play for Barbados. In a like-for-like selection, Warrican replaces Veerasammy Permaul, who was part of West Indies’ squad during their home series against Australia. Ramdin retains his place as wicketkeeper.Lloyd thanked Ramdin for his contributions as Test captain. Ramdin led West Indies in 13 Tests, of which they won four, drew two and lost seven.”I have spoken to Denesh and he understood the situation and there was no animosity,” Lloyd said. “We just want him to perform a little bit better right now, particularly with the bat, and give of his best and support the new captain.”Holder has only played eight Tests so far. He has made 380 runs, with a century and two fifties, at 34.54, and taken 16 wickets at 35.37 with his medium-pace. He took over the ODI captaincy at a similarly inexperienced stage in his 50-over career, with only 21 matches behind him.West Indies endured a difficult World Cup, which they exited at the quarter-final stage, but Holder showed evidence of his leadership skills during the tournament, shouldering the responsibility of bowling in difficult situations – such as the final over against a rampaging AB de Villiers – and batting with maturity.In the home Tests that followed, the same qualities came to the fore, particularly with the bat, as shown by a match-saving century against England in Antigua, and an unbeaten 82 against Australia in Jamaica.West Indies will undergo an eight-day preparatory camp in Barbados from September 20. They are scheduled to land in Sri Lanka on October 1.West Indies squad: Jason Holder(captain), Kraigg Brathwaite (vice-captain), Devendra Bishoo, Jermaine Blackwood, Carlos Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Rajindra Chandrika, Shane Dowrich, Shannon Gabriel, Shai Hope, Denesh Ramdin , Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor, Jomel Warrican

OCA secretary Asirbad Behara has said the state association will need to be more vigilant in the future to prevent incidents like the bottle throwing that disrupted the second T20I

Amol Karhadkar06-Oct-2015Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) secretary Asirbad Behara has said the state association will need to be more vigilant in the future to prevent incidents like the bottle throwing that disrupted the second T20 international between India and South Africa in Cuttack.Behara said spectators had been allowed to carry water bottles into the stadium to cope with the heat but that such allowances might have to be removed. Bottles, and other objects that can be used as projectiles, are not allowed inside most stadiums in India.”We decided to let spectators carry water bottles so that they can cope better with the sweltering heat and not have to climb down three storeys every time they had to drink water,” Behara told ESPNcricinfo. “But some of them decided to misuse the bottles. No way will we think of providing comfort to the spectators in future.”The episode also tells up to be extra-vigilant in future to avoid any such instances. We will take all the precautionary measures possible.”A BCCI official confirmed the board was still taking stock of the situation, and Behara said the OCA had not yet been asked for an explanation. “From what I understand, based on the match referee’s report, the ICC may write in to BCCI and the BCCI will then ask OCA for an explanation,” he said. “We will explain our side to the authorities.”All of us know cricket fans are crazy and tempers had been flared after India’s innings but still something like this is unfortunate and unacceptable. We must also realise that in a crowd of around 50,000, it was barely 100 or 150 spectators who kept throwing bottles, so it may be a ploy to defame Barabati. Over the last three decades, this is the first time some such incident has happened in Cuttack.”The first bottle-throwing incident was in the break between innings – India were bowled out for 92, their lowest T20I total at home – and did not interrupt play. The second came after 11 overs of South Africa’s chase and stopped play for 27 minutes. The players remained in the middle through the delay and play resumed at 10pm, with security personnel lining the boundaries. However, a third wave of bottle-throwing two overs later forced them off. Play resumed after a 24-minute hold-up once the police had cleared the section of the crowd causing the disruption. South Africa required another 4.1 overs, which passed without further incident, to complete the chase and seal the series 2-0.India captain MS Dhoni downplayed the incident, but South Africa captain Faf du Plessis said it was disappointing and expressed his desire to not see a repeat during the rest of the tour.