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The inaugural Pakistan Super League (PSL) will be played in Dubai and Sharjah, from February 4 to 24, 2016

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Sep-2015The inaugural Pakistan Super League (PSL) will be played in Dubai and Sharjah, from February 4 to 24, 2016. The PCB announced the venues in a release on Thursday, ending speculation over whether the UAE can accommodate both the Masters Champions League and the Pakistan T20 tournament in the February window.In August the PCB had said the PSL would be held in Doha, Qatar, as it had learned that the organisers of the Masters Champions League, a tournament for retired international cricketers, had already booked the stadiums. Now it is confirmed that the Masters Champions League will be held in Abu Dhabi concurrently, with the other two venues will be reserved for the PSL. This solution was offered by the Emirates Cricket Board. The PCB had listed the UAE as its first-choice host given it has been the Pakistan team’s virtual home since 2009, when the Sri Lankan team was attacked in Lahore.”The PSL has already floated tenders for broadcasters and producers,” Najam Sethi, the chairman of the governing council of the PSL, said. “This will be followed by a tendering process for sponsorships in the second week of October. Franchise owners will be inducted between mid to end November, after which the foreign and local players will be drafted and teams constituted.”The tournament will consist of five teams, one each from Quetta, Karachi, Peshawar, Lahore, and Islamabad. According to the PCB release, the PSL will offer up to $1 million in prize money, and “the latest tally of foreign player signing consents standing at an impressive 132. The players will be selected through a draft process in December.” The teams will each have a purse of $1 million from which they can build their squads and support staff.Sethi said: “There is a pool of top coaches also, from which franchise owners will be able to pick and chose.”

The BCCI in its annual general meeting on November 9 is set to deliberate whether to revoke the suspension imposed on bilateral tours with West Indies following their team’s pull-out midway through the India tour last October

Nagraj Gollapudi and Amol Karhadkar05-Nov-2015The BCCI in its annual general meeting on November 9 is set to deliberate whether to revoke the suspension imposed on bilateral tours with West Indies following their team’s pull-out midway through the India tour last October.The BCCI had slapped punitive damages on the WICB amounting to $41.97 million, calling the abandonment of the India tour a “monumental disaster”. That notice was sent by former BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel, who served under the previous BCCI administration which was led by N Srinivasan. Subsequently, the WICB had communicated to the BCCI its inability to pay the damages thereby raising serious doubts over India’s tour of the West Indies, scheduled for next summer.But hope has emerged for West Indies following the October 17 meeting between WICB president Dave Cameron and chief executive Michael Muirhead with the BCCI top brass in Mumbai, which took place a day before the BCCI’s working committee meeting. The working committee on October 18 was briefed that the WICB, besides tendering several apologies, had conveyed to the BCCI its inability to compensate financially. Instead, the WICB expressed its desire to make up for it by touring India for a series in 2017. If the AGM accepts the proposal, it will mean India will play four Tests in the West Indies in July-August next year as per schedule.Muirhead confirmed that he along with Cameron met the BCCI president Shashank Manohar and secretary Anurag Thakur along with a few other BCCI officials at the Indian board’s headquarters in Mumbai. Muirhead said he and Cameron came out of that meeting with the feeling that a resolution could be worked out.”We are certainly on the road to resolution,” Muirhead told ESPNcricinfo. “We had discussions on the resolution of the impasse that currently exists. It was very, very cordial. We discussed everything that would affect us at length. We were sure that a resolution would be forthcoming in the very near future. We are hoping that it will take root at the AGM.”Although Muirhead declined to divulge exact details, it is understood that West Indies are likely to tour India for limited-overs matches in 2017. As per the current FTP, India are supposed to play five ODIs and a T20 in the West Indies in July-August 2017. “It is really in the hands of the BCCI whether they either ratify what we had discussed or propose any changes they might want,” Muirhead said.

A round-up of Ranji Trophy Group C matches on November 15, 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Nov-2015
ScorecardFile photo – Rahul Shukla took his second five-for in first-class cricket•BCCI

Seamer Rahul Shukla’s six-wicket haul helped Jharkhand shoot out Tripura for 166 in 55 overs.Electing to field in Agartala, Jharkhand reduced Tripura to 46 for 3, Shukla bowling Arindam Das and Udiyan Bose. There was hardly any partnership of significance, as Shukla & co. kept striking at regular intervals; the hosts slumped ot 81 for 6 and 130 for 8 before Parvinder Singh, who top-scored with 66, put on 31 runs with Tushar Saha.Parvinder was the ninth batsman to be dismissed, as he was caught behind, off Shukla, by Sumit Kumar, who finished with five catches.Jharkhand replied solidly, despite losing opener Sumit Kumar in the sixth over.
ScorecardOpener Prashant Chopra’s second century in three matches helped Himachal Pradesh reach a strong position at the end of the first day in Rajkot.The visitors got off to a strong start after opting to bat, as Chopra and Ankush Bains, who made 47, raised 120 for the opening wicket. After Jaydev Unadkat bowled Bains, Chopra, along with Ankit Kalsi, added 81 runs. Saurashtra sent back Kalsi and Paras Dogra to have the visitors three down for 237, but Chopra, who remained unbeaten, shared an unbroken 73-run alliance with Robin Bist to take Himachal Pradesh’s total past 300.The hosts’ bowlers had a tough time, with four of them conceding more than four runs an over.
ScorecardSoumik Chatterjee’s fifth first-class century put Services in a strong position after they were inserted by Hyderabad at the Palam A Ground in Delhi.Openers Chatterjee and Anshul Gupta put on 108 before Gupta was caught behind by Sumanth off left-arm seamer Chama Milind. Milind then removed Amit Pachhara and Rajat Paliwal in quick succession to reduce Services to 134 for 3, but Chatterjee and Yashpal then shared an unbroken 110-run partnership to consolidate the hosts’ good start.
ScorecardHalf-centuries from VA Jagadeesh and Robert Fernandez helped Kerala finish the opening day on 224 for 5 against Goa in Porvorim.Opting to bat, Kerala enjoyed a decent start with openers Jagadeesh and debutant Mohammed Azharuddeen, who made 31, adding 57 before former Kerala seamer Prasanth Parameswaran trapped Azharuddeen lbw.After Shadab Jakati bowled Rohan Prem, Jagadeesh and Sachin Baby steadied things. But, the visitors slumped from 139 for 2 to 147 for 5 in the space of five overs, with offspinner Amit Yadav accounting for Jagadeesh and captain Sanju Samson.Kerala, however, were rescued by Robert Fernandez, who remained unbeaten on 51, and Akshay Kodoth, who shared an unbroken 77-run stand.

West Indies captain Jason Holder has admitted his team has not been “near our our best”, but felt they had fast bowlers who could trouble Australia’s relatively inexperienced middle order

Melinda Farrell09-Dec-20151:43

‘Have shown that we can take 20 wickets’ – Holder

It had all the visual impact of a David and Goliath portrait.But, as a diminutive Steven Smith walked out onto the Bellerive Oval with a towering Jason Holder for the obligatory captains’ photo shoot next to the Frank-Worrell Trophy, the irony was clear: Smith’s Australia side is the undisputed giant in this three-Test contest, while many observers believe the West Indies would have a better chance of winning if they played with slingshots rather than bats and balls.The task facing Holder and his players is not just immense. It makes Everest seem like a speed bump. West Indies come into this series just a few weeks after losing two Tests and three ODIs in Sri Lanka, and they suffered a 10-wicket defeat at the hands of a modest Cricket Australia XI in their sole warm-up match in Brisbane.When they faced Australia earlier this year in a Test series on home soil, they lost 2-0 and no West Indies side has won a Test abroad in nearly eight years. Not to mention the fact the Frank-Worrell Trophy has now resided in Australia for more than 20 years.In Barbados, a high-performance centre – where the next generation of West Indies cricketers should be honing their skills – has been empty for many months. Half a world away from Hobart, the management of West Indies cricket is in serious danger of imploding. A Prime Ministerial Committee recently issued a damning report, describing the WICB as “antiquated”, “obsolete” and “anachronistic”, and demanded that the board be disbanded immediately and an interim board established. The WICB has not yet complied.There are many other examples of political infighting, financial mismanagement and conflicting self-interests that have contributed to the decline of West Indies cricket, not least the neglect of the ICC. The carve up between the Big Three has meant those left outside the tent are in danger of perishing in the elements.But, somehow, Holder must put this all aside and lead his team into a contest in which few give them hope of being competitive, let alone winning. Somehow, with the help of coach Phil Simmons, he must find a way to instill self-belief in his players. And, somehow, he must try to expose and exploit weaknesses in an Australia side coming off a two-nil series win over a highly fancied New Zealand outfit.Much of the West Indies hope rests on the not inconsiderable shoulders of Holder, who just turned 24 in November. He talks of being upbeat, of being confident and positive. But he also knows his side does not exist in a vacuum and, while his players can only control their own performances, there are wider issues that must be addressed if West Indies are to become a serious force once more. He admits the constant criticism hurts.”We’re only human,” Holder said. “I suppose we’re meant to get offended by things that people say but I guess some have the right to say what they say.””At the end of the day we haven’t been at our best, we haven’t been near our best in the recent past but I still have faith that we can turn things around. But it has to be a systematic approach where we just set things up, set up a good foundation in terms of our system at home in cricket and I think once we can do that we can see us producing some better cricketers in international cricket.Jason Holder – “We just need to put our heads down and just think a little bit more, try to fight through situations”•Cricket Australia

It is only a year since the WICB restructured its first-class competition as the Professional Cricket League, a move Holder feels will help produce better Test players. But without a high standard training academy, the production belt for talented young crickets has stalled.”I think [the Professional Cricket League] is probably the first step in us trying to get our cricket back on track in a sense,” Holder said. “And just trying to have academies where we can groom players.”In the recent past we’ve had the high performance centre [in Barbados] but, unfortunately, we haven’t had a group in there for the last year-and-a-half, two years and it’s something that has reaped results.””We have, I think, eight or nine of our players who have been through the high performance centre currently in our Test side. I think once we can be consistent there in terms of keeping the programs going, you know finances are a big problem back home as well.”Again it’s all out of my hands but I can only hope that we can keep these kinds of things going so we can, in a sense, produce cricketers. “What is in Holder’s hands, and the hands of his team-mates, is their approach to this match. They face an Australia team in transition and, compared to recent sides, lacking in Test experience. They have a seam attack that could, if the fast bowlers are at their best, trouble the opposition. Only six players in the current Australia side played in the series victory in May, and Holder senses an opportunity.”They have guys like Shaun Marsh coming back into the side, Joe Burns is trying to make his mark, and there are other guys who are just trying to settle into the Australian side who we can try to exploit and put pressure on if we can get their top order out.”It has to start somewhere. We just have to be consistent in what we do. We fell down in putting up a strong first-innings total and that’s something I really highlighted in the dressing room. I think once we start doing that we’ve shown in the past we can take 20 wickets. We just need to put our heads down and just think a little bit more, try to fight through situations.”We know the Australians will come very hard at us, we know they will be very competitive, so we’ve just got to absorb that pressure early on in those instances as batsmen and when we bowl just try to be a little bit more patient than we have been in the past. Then I’m sure we can get these results.”West Indies supporters can only hope the turmoil back in the Caribbean resolves in a way that gives this very young side the support they need to win at home and abroad. If they start doing so in Australia, it will be an achievement just as worthy of legend as David’s victory over Goliath.

As England trouped off the field at lunch on the third day in Johannesburg, Trevor Bayliss produced what may come to be the defining moment in his career as coach

George Dobell17-Jan-2016As England trouped off the field at lunch on the third day in Johannesburg, with the game in the balance and the bowlers struggling to find the correct length to exploit the bounce and cracks in the surface, Trevor Bayliss produced what may come to be the defining moment in his career as coach.It wasn’t that Bayliss said anything particularly revelatory or inspirational to the team. And it wasn’t that he shouted and ranted in a way that shocked or rebuked.It was that he had waited to make a contribution and then chose his moment and message perfectly.Compare that to the methods of his predecessors. By the end of Andy Flower’s period as coach, he so intimidated some players that his attention seemed to stifle rather than assist. And Peter Moores, for all the good intentions, was said by some players to be prone to talking a little too much and, as a consequence, diluting his message.There’s something of the constitutional monarch about Bayliss: you can sort of understand why you need someone in the position, but you’re not always sure exactly what he does. His old-school cricketing philosophy means that the captain is always the man in charge and, in training, it is his genial assistant, Paul Farbrace who appears to inject the energy and organisation. And Bayliss is far too much of a fair dinkum Aussie to bother to cultivate a media image.

Trevor Bayliss on…

Stuart Broad
“I don’t take a lot of interest in the rankings. I think that’s for the fans. There are a lot of good bowlers around. But certainly on yesterday’s performance he is the best in the world. I’m fully aware that when he takes wickets he takes a lot of wickets for not many runs. He hits the crease very hard and a guy that is 6ft 6 and charging in is an intimidating sight from 22 yards away, especially on a wicket that has got a bit of bounce, sideways movement and some movement in the air. Thankfully he’s still got a few years in front of him.”
Joe Root
“In the context of the game – only two guys made 50 – I’d have given him the Man-of-the Match award. They could have halved it I reckon. Over the last few Tests he has got five, six, seven fifties without scoring a hundred. You can really see his disappointment when he gets out. He doesn’t say anything – he doesn’t throw his bat around – but you can tell that he’s got that hunger to make hundreds. The best players are not satisfied with 60 or 70. They are looking to make a big hundred.”
Jonny Bairstow
“From a batting point of view, Jonny has looked as comfortable as anyone on the spinning wickets in the UAE and on these faster, bouncier wickets here. He looks like he’s growing in confidence every day. As a keeper, we had a bit of chat with him after the first innings in Durban about moving his feet. He’s done some work; he’s certainly moving his feet better and getting his head over the ball. The amount he works on his keeping, he will get better.”
Alastair Cook
“He’s come on as a leader. The way he talks to the players and the way they listen to him. He’s got confidence from the way these young players are playing, which I think has given him confidence to be a little freer in his decisions. I’ve absolutely no complaints – I think he’s doing a great job.”
On selection
“I’d like to see the guys get one too many games rather than one not enough. I think in history of any cricket team around the world, if you’re swapping and changing all the time, you never really gain an idea of ‘has he got it or hasn’t he?’ You never seem to move on or give that guy an opportunity to establish himself.”

But he does know about cricket. Indeed, those that know him best suggest that, when he is looking for variety, he stops thinking about international cricket and starts to think about county or state cricket instead. And when he tires of that, he thinks about club cricket.So when he spotted some warning signs in Englands’s performance early in South Africa’s second innings – the bowlers were pitching too short and the fielders looked ready to sit in for the long haul rather than keen to divert the natural direction of the game – he knew it was time to act. He rejected Alastair Cook’s suggestion that he gave the team “a kick up the arse” but accepts he was not fully satisfied with what he saw.”It was more of a reminder, I suppose, of what we needed to do help the bowlers win the game,” he said. “I wouldn’t class it as a kick up the backside. But I thought before lunch and even in the first innings their attitude was not quite right in the field.”Out in the field it was a little bit quiet. There was no movement.”It’s always a decent attitude, but to field well and pick up those half chances – we missed a few in Cape Town – the energy and the attitude has to be more full on.”So it was just a bit of reminder that if we want to win this Test, now is the time to hunt in a pack or get in the batters’ face. Try to make them feel ‘where’s our next run coming from?’ and help the bowlers put the pressure on.”We had spoken about it in the past. But they are only young players, most of them, and like any young person you have to remind them now and then. A player has actually got to make mistakes to learn from them. If someone is telling them all the time what to do then they don’t necessarily recognise it themselves. Hopefully it is a lesson learned and hopefully as time goes by they won’t need a gentle reminder.”While Bayliss cannot have predicted how dramatic the results of his “reminder” would be – and 10 wickets in 25.2 overs is pretty dramatic – he clearly has a huge amount of confidence in the potential of his young squad.”This team could turn into something special,” he said. “You look at some of those players with 50 or 60 Tests experience under their belt and the potential is there. If we win a few Test matches there’ll be a chance of going up the rankings and becoming the best team in the world.”But potential never won anything. You have got to go out and do the hard work and not take everything for granted. I still think we’re two or three years away from possibly our best period.”Central to progressing, in Bayliss’ view, is an improvement in England’s fielding. Not just in the Test side, either, but throughout the game in England and Wales. It is, he believes, one area in which England lag behind Australia.”I’d like to see – in general – our fielding improve,” he said. “That’s not just at this level but at county level as well.”If you think of the game of cricket from a batter’s point of view, they probably spend 85-90% of the time they are actively in the game fielding. So we have to do a bit more work on fielding.”There always seems to be a lot of batting and bowling technique work, but there probably needs to be a little more technique work done with fielding as well.”It’s probably one area of the game that is different between Australia and England. Australian sides do more fielding technique work at a younger age.”That fielding work will have to wait a day or two. Having earned a couple of days off, England will not train again until Wednesday. By then, they will have decided whether to send the injured Steven Finn home – it looks likely that his tour is over – and whether to recall Chris Woakes for the final Test or give a chance to the uncapped left-arm seamer Mark Footitt. Woakes is the more likely choice; England are not in the mood for experimenting.”We want to win 3-0,” Bayliss said. “If you want to get to the best team in the world, you win series three, four and 5-0. That’s the challenge for these young blokes.”

Australia’s Steven Smith doesn’t think the send-off he got from India’s Virat Kohli, after being dismissed in the first T20 on Tuesday night, has a place on the cricket field

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jan-2016Australia’s Steven Smith doesn’t think the send-off he got from India’s Virat Kohli, after being dismissed in the first T20 on Tuesday night, has a place on the cricket field. While it’s okay to have a bit of “banter” going around the field, Smith said, the kind of aggression Kohli showed was not needed.”I don’t think you need to do that kind of thing when someone gets out,” Smith told . “It’s fine to have a little bit of banter when you’re out in the field, but when someone’s out I don’t really think that’s on. He gets pretty emotional out there, doesn’t he?”Kohli was fielding at cover when he took the catch to dismiss Smith for 21 off Ravindra Jadeja’s bowling in Adelaide and gave the batsman a long, animated send-off. Smith was connected to a microphone at the time and had been conducting an interview with Channel Nine commentators during the over, and Kohli’s gestures seemed to refer to that.India offspinner R Ashwin played down the incident, saying it was “probably a personal battle” between Kohli and Smith. He also added that Kohli’s competitive streak was beneficial for the Indian dressing room. Kohli had also earlier exchanged words with Australia’s allrounder James Faulkner during the ODI series.”It’s probably a personal battle between those two of them,” Ashwin said. “I think both of them are very good competitors. They know what they’re doing, they don’t go down without a fight. It’s good to have such competition on the field. Both of them are champion cricketers. I think it just adds to the spice of the game so I don’t mind it at all.”Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya, who made his international debut in Adelaide, received an official reprimand for his celebrations after he dismissed Chris Lynn in the 16th over of Australia’s chase. Pandya’s Level 1 breach of article 2.1.7 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel relates to: “Using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batsman upon his/her dismissal during an International Match.”The charge was leveled by on-field umpires Simon Fry and John Ward, third umpire Paul Wilson and fourth umpire Gerard Abood. Pandya admitted to the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by match referee Jeff Crowe.

Bengal conceded the lead only once during the group stages, and will hope they can carry that form into their quarter-final against Madhya Pradesh at the Brabourne Stadium

Arun Venugopal at the Brabourne Stadium02-Feb-2016

Injured Tare to miss quarter-final

Mumbai captain Aditya Tare will miss his team’s quarter-final against Jharkhand in Mysore after failing to recover from a finger fracture sustained during the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 competition. Allrounder Abhishek Nayar will stand in as captain, and Mumbai have included wicketkeeper batsman Eknath Kerkar as Tare’s replacement in their 15-man squad.

Bengal’s consistency this season can’t be overstated. They won two games in the league stage and lost none, and their only blip came in the first game against Karnataka when they dropped first-innings points. Bengal never conceded the lead thereafter, and eventually went on to finish second in Group A. A graph of their performance would reveal a smooth upward stroke gaining height with every game. Minus the backstory it would be easy to believe such an impressive performance was borne out of a harmonious set-up that nurtured the winning habit. But there was very little that was harmonious about Bengal’s build up to the season.Their pre-season tour to Sri Lanka was tarred by reports of alleged infighting, culminating in Laxmi Ratan Shukla stepping down as captain and Manoj Tiwary replacing him. Then there was the spat between Tiwary and Gautam Gambhir in Delhi and the controversy over an ‘underprepared’ Kalyani pitch after the two-day finish against Odisha. Bengal also had a revamped bowling attack that had no place for veteran offspinner Saurashish Lahiri, and had Pragyan Ojha making his first appearance for the team. The batting unit also had a fair bit of green about it. So what went right for the team?”I would say Sairaj Bahutule has played a very important role along with [Cricket Association of Bengal president] Sourav Ganguly because he also chips in with his valuable inputs [on] how to go about as far as all these things are concerned,” Tiwary told reporters after Bengal’s practice session ahead of their quarter-final against Madhya Pradesh at the Brabourne Stadium. “Other support staff like [bowling coach] Ranadeb Bose and [fielding coach] Joydeep Mukherjee have made sure our team doesn’t get distracted with all this things.”Tiwary said controversies were inevitable in Bengal, and so the players had to work around them. “Each and every season in Bengal, you know, there are a lot of unnecessary controversies which are not required,” he said. “This time around we made sure each and every one is focused in their job.”It’s a kind of a challenge you can say. Along with batting and bowling in the middle this is also a challenge for us to just to handle things better off the field. It’s important for a captain or any individual to be as calm as possible and think of the things which are related to cricket only rather than wasting energy on other things.”Tiwary said the senior players pulled their weight and that in turn rubbed on to the younger players. Ojha and Dinda have topped the bowling charts with 33 and 31 wickets respectively, but Tiwary was particularly pleased that the selection punts on youngsters like offspinner Aamir Gani, preferred to Lahiri, and seamer Mukesh Kumar had come good.”It’s important we [seniors] take extra responsibility to perform consistently and this season our performance in the Ranji Trophy we have been very consistent,” he said. “Bowlers, especially Dinda and Ojha, have contributed a lot. Mukesh is a find for Bengal for the season. Our team looks very confident and balanced.”According to Tiwary, Sudip Chatterjee – the team’s highest scorer with 712 runs – and opener Abhimanyu Easwaran had the potential to play Test matches for India. “[Sudip] is a determined youngster. He has that hunger to do well. It’s that desperation [that has contributed to his success],” Tiwary said. “Along with him, Abhimanyu Easwaran is one of them. They have the potential [to play for India]. It’s just that they have to be on the right track and work the way they are working.”Tiwary is carrying a niggle in his right calf but he felt playing through pain was a small price for the joy that a Ranji Trophy title offered. “It’s a very important match for Bengal cricket, so you will have to [play through pain] at times,” he said. “I don’t think every cricketer is always 100% fit. It’s important to get through the pain. I have been jogging a lot, touch wood nothing will happen.”[A Ranji title] is due as well. This is the best period of Bengal cricket. The chances of getting the trophy are much higher. But we have to take it as another match and not put too much pressure.”Madhya Pradesh, on the other hand, have had an intriguing run to the knockouts. Having started off in reasonably solid manner, they went through a phase where they won successive games against Baroda and Railways before losing the next two. Then, in a must-win game against Andhra, they grabbed seven points and scraped through to the quarter-finals by virtue of a better net run rate than Gujarat. This was welcome respite for a side that had missed out a knockout berth by a whisker last season.”Qualifying for the knockouts was our first aim when we started off,” Madhya Pradesh captain Devendra Bundela said. “Our first two games didn’t go well but we made a good comeback. Of course there was the disappointment of last year so we put in more effort and concentrated harder this time. We have also had the same group of players over the last three-four years, so there is good bonding. We will play with three medium pacers and two spinners tomorrow.”Both captains were united in their assessment that the Brabourne pitch had decent grass cover and would offer assistance to the seamers early on before going on to become a good batting surface.

England survived a major scare against Afghanistan to sustain their World T20 hopes, recovering from 85 for 7 to steal home by 15 runs

The Report by George Dobell23-Mar-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMoeen Ali’s wise innings shepherded England to a winning score•Getty Images

The final margin of victory might not show it, but England survived a major scare against Afghanistan to sustain their World T20 hopes.At 85 for 7 in the 15th over of the match, England were teetering on the brink of a defeat that would have reverberated around the cricket world.But, through the calm head of Moeen Ali and the broad shoulders of David Willey, England cast off their shackles in the final overs to set a target that proved sufficient on a tricky surface on which batting was never completely straightforward.Perhaps Afghanistan can feel a little unfortunate. Replays suggested that Moeen was fortunate to survive a leg before appeal off the bowling of Shapoor Zadran in the 18th over when England were 102 for 7. Moeen was on 20 at the time and, with Willey, went on to plunder 35 from the final two overs of the innings.That Moeen-Willey partnership was crucial. The pair added 57 from the final 33 deliveries of the innings thrashing Amir Hamza for 25 from his final over. His first three overs had cost just 20.Until then, it had been hard to be certain which side contained the pros who are extended every advantage and which was the side that gained Associate status less than three years ago. With England’s panic-stricken batsmen struggling to adjust to a surface far removed from the Mumbai pitch where they made their highest T20I score a few days ago, they seemed to have no idea what constituted a par total. Indeed, it was a surprise they elected to bat first upon winning the toss.It wasn’t that the ball turned especially far for Afghanistan’s four spinners. It was that it skidded through and sometimes gripped just enough to plant seeds of doubt. Conditions were not dissimilar to the UAE and England supporters will need little reminder how their batsmen have fared in Test series there.While James Vince, in the side due to Alex Hales’ back injury, had given England a fluent enough start in reaching 42 for 1 in the sixth over, his loss precipitated a collapse that saw them lose five wickets for 15 runs including a spell of three in four balls.Mohammad Nabi was the unlikely destroyer. After clinging on to a return catch off the leading edge to dismiss Vince, he saw Eoin Morgan – who is in the middle of another fallow patch of form – inexplicably leave a straight one, first ball, which drifted into his off stump.While Ben Stokes survived a confident leg before appeal from the hat-trick ball, Joe Root was run-out from the next delivery after over-committing to an optimistic single. Nabi, while initially breaking the stumps with his elbow before taking the throw, had the composure to rip a stump from the ground to defeat Root’s despairing attempt to recover his ground.Suddenly England looked petrified. Ben Stokes, losing his balance and his feet as he tried to pull a long-hop out of the ground, was bowled off a bottom edge, Jos Buttler’s drive was brilliantly caught at extra cover and Chris Jordan was caught off the leading edge as he tried to turn one into the leg side. Had Moeen been adjudged leg before, England would have been in deep trouble.But he was reprieved and he made the most of it. Hamza was slog-swept over mid-wicket for six then driven back over his head for four, before Shapoor was lofted over extra-cover for four more. Meanwhile Willey, good enough to open in T20 in domestic cricket, heaved successive sixes over long on off Hamza.While probably under par, England’s final total of 142 was only 20 under the IPL average on this ground.If Afghanistan were to get close, they probably required a significant contribution from Mohammad Shahzad in reply. But, in the first over of the chase, his attempted heave into the leg side was beaten by Willey inswing and he was struck on the back leg in front of leg stump.Jordan, bowling at a sharp pace, had Asghar Stanikzai taken at slip off fencing, and Liam Plunkett proved to have too much pace and bounce for a line-up lacking experience against such qualities. Plunkett, preferred to Reece Topley in the England attack, started his World T20 campaign with a maiden and conceded just 12 from his entire spell.Nabi was lured into a drive to long-on, Rashid Khan was well caught at extra-cover and by the time Najibullah Zadran was run out by Jordan’s direct hit – replays suggested his bat was over the line but in the air – and Samiullah Shenwari carved a filthy ball to cover, it became clear it was not to be Afghanistan’s day.While Shafiqullah’s late impetus – he thrashed 35 from 20 balls including a magnificent straight six off Jordan to become the highest contributor from No. 9 in this format of international cricket – came too late to save Afghanistan, it may yet condemn England. They required not just victory here, but a victory that significantly improve their net run-rate. A 15-run win does not really provide it.They will know this was not a convincing performance. Quite apart from their nervous batting, they donated overthrows, misfields and a drop – Buttler failing to cling on to a chance offered by Nabi off Adil Rashid on four – in the field. England will know that more experienced sides will punish them.That experience is the key ingredient missing for Afghanistan. While they couldn’t quite finish the job, they gave one of the Big Three who have made it so hard for them to gain further opportunities a bloody nose. They’ve proved they deserve their chance.It is to be hoped that the ECB management who watched this game squirming with discomfort take up their cause in the board meetings that have a disproportional influence on their future advancement.

Shashank Manohar has resigned as BCCI president in the lead up to the elections for ICC chairman, a post that must now be contested by independent candidates

ESPNcricinfo staff10-May-20162:54

Bal: Manohar’s ICC reign could be significant

Shashank Manohar has resigned as BCCI president in the lead up to the elections for ICC chairman, a post that must now be contested by independent candidates not linked to any country’s board. Manohar will not be able to continue as ICC chairman either until the elections because the present post goes to the BCCI nominee to the ICC, which is Manohar.”I hereby tender my resignation with immediate effect from the post of President of Board of Control for Cricket in India,” Manohar said in a letter to BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur. “I also resign with immediate effect as the representative of BCCI on the International Cricket Council, as also the Asian Cricket Council on which I was nominated by the General Body of BCCI.”Thakur confirmed to that Manohar had stepped down because of the upcoming ICC election, for which the nomination process began on May 8. The ICC had announced in February that its new chairman would be independent and no longer be able to hold a position with their home board, like Manohar and his predecessor N Srinivasan had done.The ICC election will be overseen by the body’s independent audit committee chairman and all present and past ICC directors will be eligible to contest. Candidates can only be nominated by a fellow ICC director and a director can make only one nomination. Any nominee with the support of at least two Full Member directors will be put forward as a candidate for chairman.Manohar had been elected BCCI president in October 2015 – his second term – after the death of Jagmohan Dalmiya. According to the BCCI constitution, in the case of the president resigning, the secretary will have to call a special general body meeting with two weeks notice to decide on the way forward.Manohar’s resignation came amid the Indian board’s legal troubles with the country’s Supreme Court in the wake of the Lodha Committee’s recommendations to restructure the organisation.

Ben Stokes is a doubt for the second Test against Sri Lanka, on his home ground at Chester-le-Street, after suffering a knee injury at Headingley

George Dobell at Headingley21-May-2016Ben Stokes is a doubt for the second Test against Sri Lanka, on his home ground at Chester-le-Street, after suffering a knee injury at Headingley. Alastair Cook, England’s captain, said Stokes “doesn’t look good” and that back-up would be added to the squad.Stokes took to the field at the start of day three but, after a few overs, reported discomfort and returned to the dressing-room for treatment. He did not bowl as England wrapped up an innings-and-88-run victory but remained at the ground.He had briefly left the field for treatment on day two after jarring his left knee while bowling. He later returned and bowled a few more overs which, in retrospect, may have been a mistake. The second of back-to-back Tests starts on Friday, with England’s three-day win providing valuable extra time off. There were indications that the management would give Stokes every chance to recover, although Cook wasn’t hopeful.”He doesn’t look good for Durham,” Cook said of Stokes. “He’ll have a scan tomorrow. We will certainly add to the squad. Even if he’s named there will be a risk.”We don’t know. He has something in his knee and is not 100 per cent right. It took a major shoulder thing for him to leave the pitch in Abu Dhabi so for him to not feel right is not great. But you never know.”The England selectors will meet in the next day or so, with Chris Woakes one of those who might be considered a potential replacement. While he is not Stokes – England have been looking for such a player since the retirement of Ian Botham – he is averaging 61 with the bat and 26.64 with the ball in this year’s County Championship.Another option would be for Bairstow, who made a century in England’s first innings at Headingley, and Moeen Ali to move up a position in the batting order and select Jake Ball as a fourth seamer. Paul Farbrace, England’s assistant coach, said that both those options – an allrounder being called up or an extra seamer – would be considered.