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Duncan Fletcher, England’s coach, is far from happy with his team’s schedule, complaining that the balance between playing and time spent practising is not right. Fletcher said that the amount of one-on-one coaching he is able to do with players is insufficient.”It’s all about getting the balance right,” Fletcher explained. “It would be nice if we had a break of about two or three weeks before a tour so we could get them together and go through certain things. I want them to develop in their games but you can’t do that sort of thing during the season and we’re not alone in that because everybody is saying the same – we just have to hope we can slot it in at some stage.”England are in the middle of a three-week spell during which time they will play as many as ten one-day internationals, and no sooner is that finished than the five-Test series against South Africa gets underway. England then play Bangladesh and Sri Lanka before Christmas, moving on to the Caribbean next February before returning home for the most hectic summer of cricket yet, ending with the ICC Champions Trophy next September.Fletcher explained that while he had plenty of time with players, he was unable to make any significant changes to their techniques. “It’s very difficult because on days like today you have to have a light practice. You don’t want to start new innovations because they have a game and they have to establish themselves. It’s better they get in and establish themselves and then you can start changing things. If we change something small now and then they don’t perform, everybody will be jumping on them.”Given the increasing amount of international cricket foisted on players, it is not a situation which is likely to get any easier.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) today announces that MarcusTrescothick, Craig White and Ashley Giles have confirmed their intention totour India next month. Robert Croft and Andrew Caddick have made themselvesunavailable for the tour.This means that 14 players of the original party of 16 will tour, subject tothe proviso that they and the Professional Cricketers’ Association aresatisfied that appropriate security arrangements will be in place.Replacement players for Croft and Caddick will be named later this week.John Carr, ECB Director of Cricket Operations, said: “The ECB is delighted that the players have now made their decisions and thanks them for respecting the ECB’s urgency on the matter. Tim O’Gorman and I are travelling to India tomorrow to confirm all the security arrangements for the tour. The Indian authorities have a great deal of experience in implementing appropriate security measures and we look forward to undertaking a successful tour both on and off the pitch.”Ashley Giles said: “I am very grateful to the ECB for allowing my family and I extra time to come to my decision and, subject to my passing a fitness test on 7th November, I now look forward to flying to India with the rest of the touring party.”Marcus Trescothick said: “The additional time provided has enabled me to make my decision in the right frame of mind. I would like to thank the ECB and all concerned for their patience.”Craig White said: “I am undergoing a fitness test on November 7th and if passed fit I confirm I will travel to India with the England squad next month. I am very grateful to all concerned for their patience while making a very difficult decision.”Andy Caddick said: “My decision to opt out of the touring party was extremely difficult. My choice does not reflect any lack of commitment to English cricket and, had circumstances been different, I would love to have toured India.”Turning down the opportunity to represent my country is something I would never have believed possible. I needed to be 100% confident that my family were happy for me to tour, unfortunately that is not the case. I have two children, Ashton who is three and Fraser, born only on the 12th October – for them and my wife I have made the very personal decision not to go to India.”My family and I did appreciate the additional time provided by the ECB and my very best wishes go with Nasser and the team.”Robert Croft said: “It has been an immensely difficult decision to make butafter further discussions with friends and family I could not guarantee fullcommitment to the England Team, knowing that my family would worry about mysafety.”I would like to thank the ECB for allowing me more time to reach my decision and assure them that I am fully committed to the New Zealand Tour.”I have many Indian friends and for all concerned I am very disappointed.Extraordinary circumstances have led to my decision and I would like to takethis opportunity to wish Nasser and the guys a successful tour.”David Graveney, Chief Executive of the Professional Cricketers’ Association and Chairman of Seclectors, said: “I realise that it has been a very difficult decision for all concerned. I would like to reiterate, in my selectorial capacity, that the statements made regarding players who understandably have opted out of the tour remain true relating to their future selection.”Nasser Hussain, England Team Captain, said: “I am delighted that Craig, Marcus and Ashley have made their decision to tour. On behalf of all the players I would like to thank all concerned for their understanding in what has been an incredibly difficult period for the team. I fully respect and appreciate both Andrew and Robert’s decisions.”

Jagmohan Dalmiya, the BCCI president, died on Sunday night at the BM Birla hospital in Kolkata, where he had been admitted after suffering a heart attack on Thursday. He was 75 and had faced concerns around his health since starting his second term as president in March.Dalmiya had been admitted to hospital after complaining of chest pain on Thursday and had to have an angiography. He was reported to be stable but remained in critical care for the next two days. The hospital statement said his condition had become unstable on Sunday morning and he died at 8.45 pm. Dalmiya’s body will be taken to the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) headquarters at Eden Gardens on Monday afternoon for the public to pay their respects.A long-serving cricket administrator, Dalmiya had since 1979 worked his way from the CAB to president of the ICC and twice headed the BCCI. He is widely credited with being one of two BCCI officials responsible for India’s emergence as world cricket’s financial powerhouse and the tributes pouring in from across the globe bore witness to the breadth of his relationships.”As a visionary and a father figure of Indian cricket, Mr. Dalmiya worked towards the development of the game of cricket in India. The cricketing fraternity will miss him dearly,” said BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur. “Mr. Dalmiya played a significant part in positioning Indian cricket at the global level and the astute administrator in him, guided Indian cricket to greater heights. His untiring efforts will be remembered for generations to come and his contribution to Indian cricket will remain unparalleled.”He had initially made a name in the construction business, which he took over from his father at the age of 19, and joined the BCCI in 1979. Along with the then BCCI president NKP Salve and IS Bindra, Dalmiya was the force behind bringing the World Cup to India and Pakistan in 1987, the first time the tournament was staged outside England. It was during Dalmiya and Bindra’s tenures in the BCCI that the television rights for matches played in India were first sold to private television channels.After the successful conduct of the 1996 World Cup, Dalmiya was elected ICC president in 1997 and served in the role until 2000, after which he was elected BCCI president for the first time in 2001. In an acrimonious BCCI election in 2004, Dalmiya’s casting vote helped his candidate Ranbir Singh Mahendra get elected as president; but a year later, Dalmiya was beaten in a BCCI election for the first time in over two decades, by Sharad Pawar. His opponents at the time went after him – Dalmiya was banned from BCCI meetings, and an FIR was filed against him – but Dalmiya bounced back to win the CAB presidential elections in July 2006.Five months later the BCCI expelled him on charges of embezzling funds from the 1996 World Cup and he was forced to step down as CAB chief. After a long legal battle, he was allowed to contest the CAB elections again and he won the presidency in 2008. For the next five years, Dalmiya stayed in charge at the CAB but his influence was diminished at the BCCI level. In 2013, however, when N Srinivasan stepped aside temporarily from discharging his duties as BCCI president, the board turned to Dalmiya to run its affairs in the interim.With the influence of Srinivasan waning because of the corruption and spot-fixing scandals in the IPL under his watch and the board mired in legal trouble, Dalmiya was unanimously elected the BCCI president for a second term in March 2015. His health was already a concern by that time, though, and he had to be assisted at several board meetings. The last BCCI meeting Dalmiya attended was a working committee meeting in Kolkata on August 28, which he adjourned sine die because of confusion over whether Srinivasan was eligible to attend.

Afghanistan’s 49-run win in the first ODI against Zimbabwe in Sharjah on Friday meant they displaced Zimbabwe to enter the top 10 in the ICC ODI charts for the first time.The key architects of the win were opener Noor Ali Zadran and left-arm spinner Amir Hamza, who made 63 and took four wickets respectively as Afghanistan successfully defended the lowest total – 131- for an Associate against a Full Member.Afghanistan will have an opportunity to remain at the tenth position should they win the five-match series against Zimbabwe. A series loss, however, means they will return to their original No. 12 ranking, behind Zimbabwe and Ireland.The year 2015 has been a watershed year of sorts for Afghanistan, who made their maiden World Cup appearance in Australia in February-March, where they beat Scotland by one wicket.They built on that success by registering their first bilateral series win over a Test nation when they beat Zimbabwe 3-2 in a five-match series in Bulawayo in October. Interestingly, they came back from one match down to win the series, which made them the first Associate to topple a Full Member in a bilateral series.

4th dayShane Warne could miss the rest of the English season after fracturing a rib while bowling in Hampshire‘s draw with Lancashire at Old Trafford . He will be out for at least three weeks, a major blow for Hampshire, who are seeking their first Championship title since 1973. The game had draw all over it from the start, but Paul Horton pushed on to a career-best 152 and Luke Sutton hit his second century of the season to guide Lancashire to full batting points.Rob Key and Martin van Jaarsveld made centuries as Kent and Worcestershire shared the points in an inevitable draw at Canterbury. There was no change for the bottom three, though, as Surrey didn’t manage to fit in a ball against Sussex who watched Yorkshire slide past them to the top. They have a game in hand, though.3rd dayFor John Ward’s report on the third day at Scarborough, where Yorkshire played gloriously to crush Warwickshire inside three days click here.

3rd dayDerbyshire held their nerve to bowl out Glamorgan at Cardiff just when the home side were looking good for their second win of the season. Heading into the final session, Glamorgan needed 60 with six wickets in hand, but added just 18 of those before being blown away by Ant Botha’s five-for and three wickets for Tom Lungley.Nottinghamshire will hope that their last six pairings can triumph where Glamorgan failed, in easing the last 104 runs they require to beat Northamptonshire at Trent Bridge. A team effort took Northants to 229 in their second innings, leaving Nottinghamshire to chase 232. The visitors were boosted by removing Stephen Fleming for 50 shortly before stumps.Jerome Taylor blew through Essex‘s defences with five wickets, and he was well supported by David Masters (4 for 40) as the home side crumbled to Leicestershire at Colchester. Varun Chopra was caught at slip off the first ball of the day off Masters, who will be an Essex player next season, and resilient fifties for Ryan ten Doeschate and James Middlebrook were the only consolation for them. Leicestershire then reached 52 for 2 and a final-day run-chase may be negotiated between the two captains.A draw is likely at Lord’s where Middlesex reached 305 for 7 before declaring, although a late Gloucestershire collapse to 97 for 5 keeps the game interesting. Andrew Strauss made 75 and Ed Smith 69 before Middlesex lost 4 for 1 in the middle order. Chaminda Vaas and Murali Kartik added 64 to hasten the declaration, then Kartik impressive with the ball with two wickets leaving Gloucestershire 208 behind.

Pakistan have strongly denied that there was any tampering of the ball during the fourth Test at the Oval, accusations of which eventually led to the forfeiture of the game by Pakistan.Umpires Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove changed the ball in the 56th over of England’s second innings on the fourth day and punished Pakistan with a five-run penalty as a result. Pakistan protested after the tea break by refusing to come out, a decision which eventually led the umpires to forfeit the match in England’s favour.But a Pakistan official told Cricinfo, having inspected the ball, that there was no evidence of tampering. “There was no evidence of any tampering on the ball I saw. It was a 55-overs old ball and one that had been hit into the stands on a couple of occasions by Kevin Pietersen. I can honestly say that it had not been scratched to gain any reverse swing.”The official also questioned the approach of the umpires to the entire incident. “Most umpires would give some sort of prior warning, just have a word with the captain and may be give a warning before taking action. They don’t have to but they do. Nothing was said to Inzamam by either umpire until the ball was changed.” The official also confirmed that no individual had been named by the umpires and no specific incident was highlighted either.Sky TV commentators repeatedly pointed out that none of the 26 cameras at the ground had picked up any images which suggested the ball might have been tampered with. On past occasions when players have been charged with ball tampering, ICC match referees have been able to take into account images captured on television cameras. In light of what Sky’s commentary team said, it seems unlikely such evidence can be provided.Ultimately, this is a moot point in any case as the decision on whether the ball has been tampered is down to the umpires. The ICC match referee for the Test, Mike Proctor, is now reviewing the case and his report will be considered by the ICC in the aftermath of this Test. According to an ICC press release, Pakistan has been charged under Level two of the Code of Conduct, 2.10, which relates to changing the condition of the match ball.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has rejected Cricket Australia’s (CA) request to reschedule the proposed Australian tour due to take place in February 2008 to August 2007. Australia are due to play three Tests and five one-day Internationals in Pakistan.”CA had sent us a request that they would like to undertake their scheduled tour,” a senior PCB official told . “But we’ve declined because the weather in August – specially in Punjab – is not conducive for international cricket.”Citing security reasons, the Australian team refused to play in Pakistan in 2002 and the series was shifted to two neutral venues – Colombo and Sharjah – with a subsequent tri-series in Nairobi.The PCB official also informed the board is currently chalking out the programme for the next four years. “We are presently sitting down and chalking out a schedule for the next four years so that itineraries can be finalised well in advance unlike the past when these things happened too late.”Pakistan recently finalised the itinerary for the England series, which gets underway on October 26 and includes three Tests and five one-dayers. Pakistan are also scheduled to host India – the itinerary for which is yet to be agreed – besides staging the Asia Cup from mid-February next year.Asked about India’s agreement to play a Test and a one-dayer in Karachi, the PCB official said: “India are certain to play a Test in Karachi but they’ve to get the itinerary formally approved from some of their ministries before making a final announcement.”

Javed Miandad has come out strongly against Bob Woolmer’s slamming of the bonus-point system in the Asia Cup. “There is no point in crying hoarse over the bonus-point system,” Miandad said while speaking to a private news channel in Kolkata.Since all teams were informed of the rules and regulations prior to the tournament, Miandad felt that Pakistan should have played according to the situation. “Atleast the people who are sitting in the dressing room should have intimated the players and made them aware of the situation,” and added, “Rules like bonus points have their pros and cons.”About India’s climactic victory over Sri Lanka, he zeroed in on two moments that made the difference. “First, Jayasuriya’s dismissal at a very crucial juncture and secondly, Irfan Pathan’s 49th over which was very economical.”Miandad also likened Sourav Ganguly’s captaincy to Imran Khan’s and said, “Sourav is a lucky captain like Imran Khan. During Imran’s time, we had ended up on the winning side on number of occasions despite a number of tactical and on-field mistakes.”When asked about the chances of him accepting a coaching role in India, like a batting consultant for the NCA, he was candid in his response. “I am free now and is open to any such offer. In fact this is way to develop the mutual camaraderie between the two nations. [Intikhab] Alam’s taking up the job of Punjab Ranji team coach is a very happy sight.”

Cricket coaching opportunities in the South Somerset are in the process of improving considerably thanks to an initiative between Yeovil College and Somerset County Cricket Club and the involvement of former Combined Services coach Richard Askew.For sometime Somerset Cricket Development Officer Andrew Moulding has been aware of the need to improve coaching in the area, so when John Hole who is the Sports Centre Manager at Yeovil College made contact with him Mr Moulding was only too pleased to be able to help out.He said: "When John came to us to ask for help we were only too delighted to help him. He has managed to get some funding to upgrade the sports hall and we are going to present them with two mats that they can make use of."He continued: "One of our coaches Dan Hodges has already worked with Westlands Cricket Club to develop their cricket coaching but we still need more coaching activities to develop the game in the area."One of the E.C.B. Level 3 coaches who will be working in the Yeovil area is Richard Askew who until he was pensioned out of the Royal Navy in 2002 was cricket coach to the Combined Services XI and based at Yeovilton.Richard was born and raised in Warwickshire and obtained his degree atBangor University. He played club cricket for Birmingham League side Kenilworth Wardens before joining the Royal Navy and represented the Navy side and United Services (Portsmouth) until he was posted to RNAS Yeovilton in late 1997, since when he has played for North Perrott Cricket Club.He told me: " I suffered a frostbite injury on exercise in Norway in late 2000 and have had problems with my hands and feet ever since and although the Navy were good enough to try and give me every opportunity to recover there had been no significant improvement, so in December 2002 I was pensioned out of the service."Richard continued: "When Somerset made contact with me and invited me to be involved with grass roots cricket in my adopted county I was delighted .It is fantastic and the challenge of getting the game into schools in the South East Somerset area is very exciting. I think it is typical of Somerset’s pro-active approach that they are geared up to support a schools programme of such a professional nature."He concluded: " Without doubt, Somerset County Cricket Club is one of cricket’s leaders; from first class through to junior levels. In Kevin Shine and Mark Garaway we are lucky to have two of the most qualified and respected coaches in county cricket and I am therefore delighted to have been asked to join that team!"

Despite half-centuries by Yousuf Youhana, Sohail Jaffar and AsifMujtaba, PIA made a modest 267 in their first innings on the openingday of the Patron’s Trophy Grade-I fixture against National Bank atSheikhupura Stadium Thursday.National Bank openers Imran Nazir and Kamran Akmal safely an over eachby Wasim Akram and Azhar Mahmood to close the day on three for nowicket, according to details available here.Generally, it was a disappointing day for PIA. They were on course formassive score after National Bank skipper Mushtaq Ahmed had elected tofirst. But once the 99-run fourth wicket partnership between AsifMujtaba and Yousuf Youhana was broken, PIA lost their last sevenwickets for 67 runs.Opener Sohail Jaffer made 65 off 77 deliveries in 106 minutes and theleft-handed Mujtaba contributed a sedate 50 off 161 balls in 217minutes.Youhana, the ever reliable Test right-hander, went past the 50-runmark for the fourth consecutive time in as many innings. He made 54and 52 in the opening match against Allied Bank at Sialkot last week,preceded by that unbeaten century against Bangladesh in the Asian TestChampionship clash at Multan last month.Wasim Akram, in his first match for a month, scored just seven off 15balls before falling to leg-spinner Mushtaq. PIA captain Moin Khanmade 20 off 49 balls until he too was dismissed by the discarded Testspinner.Pakistan captain Waqar Younis terminated PIA’s innings by taking thescalps of Azhar Mahmood and Shoaib Malik to finish with three for 38.Mushtaq also claimed three wickets but conceded 86 runs in 25 overswhile lanky speedster Shabbir Ahmed captured two for 44.