England are a win away from securing their seventh consecutive home one-day series victory

The Preview by Andrew McGlashan03-Jul-2012

Match Facts

July 4, Edgbaston
Start time 2.00pm (1300 GMT)Xavier Doherty is under pressure to provide control for Australia’s attack•Getty Images

The Big Picture

England are a win away from securing their seventh consecutive one-day series title at home and, if they achieve that at Edgbaston, it will also give them a new record of nine ODI victories on the bounce. Whatever problems exist overseas, they are tough to beat at home.Their wins against Australia at Lord’s and The Oval were impressive all-round displays and showed how England are becoming more confident, whether they bat or bowl first. They have gambled somewhat with five frontline bowlers, leaving Tim Bresnan at No. 7, but so far neither West Indies nor Australia have knocked over the top order to test the strength of what follows.There is no great secret to England’s success with at least one top-order batsman in every match making a sizable contribution. It was an area both Michael Clarke and Mickey Arthur indentified as why Australia are struggling. Four of their batsmen have passed fifty so far in the series, but none have gone beyond Shane Watson’s 66.Australia are also in a muddle about their bowling attack. Mitchell Johnson’s poor comeback has added to the headaches, while Xavier Doherty is not close to matching Graeme Swann’s effectiveness. In this corresponding series two years ago, Australia left their revival too late to save the series and they will have to improve in all areas to keep this one alive into the weekend.

Form guide

(Completed matches, most recent first)
England WWWWW
Australia LLWLT

Watch out for…

Craig Kieswetter has taken a couple of superb catches in this series to remove David Warner and Peter Forrest but there remain question marks around his place in the team. He struggled to time the ball at Lord’s – although Eoin Morgan’s onslaught meant it was not costly – and did not face a ball at The Oval so, for the longer-term benefit of the team, it would be useful if he was needed to play a substantial innings. Although, if he is not needed, it means England’s top order is still doing the business.In the absence of his brother, Michael, David Hussey is crucial to Australia’s middle order. He was worked over by the short ball at Lord’s, but was just starting to motor at The Oval when a brilliant piece of fielding by Steven Finn sent him packing. However, it would benefit him if he was not left needing to improve a flagging run-rate when he came into bat.

Team news

England will not risk James Anderson if any doubts remain over his groin strain so Chris Woakes, who has been repeatedly drafted into the squad this season, is set to play his first ODI since facing Ireland last August. Jade Dernbach has been ruled out of the series with a side strain, although both he and Stuart Meaker were always going to miss this match because of Tom Maynard’s funeral.England (probable) 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Ian Bell, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Ravi Bopara, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Craig Kieswetter (wk), 7 Tim Bresnan, 8 Stuart Broad, 9 Chris Woakes, 10 Graeme Swann, 11 Steven Finn.Australia may consider an all-pace attack – leaving the spin to David Hussey and Michael Clarke – and Mitchell Johnson could make way for either James Pattinson or Ben Hilfenhaus. There is not much they can do with the batting.Australia (probable) 1 Shane Watson, 2 David Warner, 3 Peter Forrest, 4 Michael Clarke (capt), 5 George Bailey, 6 David Hussey, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 Brett Lee, 9 James Pattinson, 10 Clint McKay, 11 Xavier Doherty.

Pitch and conditions

It rained on Tuesday and showers are forecast for match day as well, although it does not look like washout potential, which will be relief for Edgbaston after three abandoned days during the West Indies Test. After so much poor weather, the pitch could be on the slow side, while the day/night element may influence what happens at the toss.

Stats and trivia

• The teams have met eight times at Edgbaston, with England ahead 4-3 and one no result.
• That no-result was the most recent meeting, in 2005, when Simon Jones and Matthew Hayden went chest-to-chest ahead of the Ashes series.
• Jonathan Trott needs eight runs for 2000 in ODIs. Alastair Cook needs 49 for the same landmark.
• Brett Lee needs one wicket to become Australia’s leading wicket-taker in ODIs with 381, level with Glenn McGrath’s overall tally but one of McGrath’s came for the World XI in the 2004 tsunami fundraiser.

Quotes

“I’m sure they’ll fight back They’re the No. 1 team, so I’m sure they’re obviously going to come back strong – and we’re ready for that.”
“The exciting thing is we feel we haven’t played very good cricket yet, or as good cricket as we can. So that’s the opportunity we have for the next three games. The risk is you get on the bus and it’s a really quiet group and it’s down thinking ‘what do we do now’, but it’s really upbeat. There’s joking, there’s talking, there’s banter about what we can do differently, what we’re going to try, and that suggests to me there’s a team that certainly believes they can still come back and win this series.”

A half-century for Gareth Rees and an all-round contribution from Jim Allenby helped Glamorgan to a comfortable CB40 victory over Scotland

29-Jul-2012
ScorecardA half-century for Gareth Rees and an all-round contribution from Jim Allenby helped Glamorgan to a comfortable Clydesdale Bank 40 Group B victory over Scotland in Cardiff.Scotland, who had beaten Bangladesh in a T20 international on Tuesday, were restricted to 151 for 9 in their 40 overs after winning the toss and electing to bat. Glamorgan then reached their target of 152 without too many scares and with 12 overs to spare.Rees finished on 60 not out from 81 balls and Allenby, who also recorded figures of three for 16, hit the winning runs to end on 39 not out.Allenby and John Glover (3 for 34) were the main destroyers as the Saltires struggled to recover from being reduced to 54 for 5 in the opening 16 overs. They made a decent enough start through their openers Josh Davey and Calum MacLeod, who put on 27 for the first wicket.But when Davey was caught low down by wicketkeeper Mark Wallace off Simon Jones the wickets began to tumble on the slow pitch. Three wickets fell in the space of 23 balls including the key wicket of Jean Symes, who was caught one handed by Allenby off his own bowling.But just when the visitors feared they might be bowled out for less than 100, skipper Preston Mommsen and Ewan Chalmers did their best to rebuild the innings. The sixth-wicket pair added 60 in 19 overs as they tried to get Scotland to a respectable score.Glover returned to take two wickets in three balls, bowling Mommsen middle stump and trapping Ryan Flannigan leg before. New-ball bowler James Harris returned at the end to take the wickets of Ewan Chalmers and Craig Wallace.Glamorgan’s openers – Rees and Wallace – made their intentions known as they raced to 63 within the first eight overs. They were helped in their task by Davey, who conceded 30 runs in his opening two overs.The momentum was halted briefly when Wallace was caught at midwicket from Richie Berrington’s first ball. Berrington then struck again to remove Chris Cooke, who made a century in a losing cause against Somerset yesterday.That left Glamorgan 91 for 2 in the 14th over, but there were no more blemishes as Rees and Allenby saw their side home with 72 balls to spare.

Nottinghamshire still have to play the leaders, Warwickshire, twice but defeat against a resurgent Durham is a blow to their championship ambitions

Jon Culley at Trent Bridge18-Aug-2012
ScorecardAlex Hales made a century for Notts but Durham clained a vital win in the penultimate over•Getty Images

Given that they still have to play Warwickshire, the First Division leaders, at home and away, it would be premature to declare that Nottinghamshire’s title prospects can be discounted but their failure to beat Durham has delivered a significant setback.They have three matches left to Warwickshire’s four and the gap between them stands at 18 points, with Sussex now ahead of them as the closest pursuers. Should Warwickshire beat Middlesex at Edgbaston next week, while Nottinghamshire are idle, Chris Read’s side would probably need not only to win both clashes with their Midlands rivals, but get the better of Surrey at The Oval too.It was no wonder, then, that they identified this match with Durham as one they needed to emerge from with a strong clutch of points, and no wonder that they chased the result for all they were worth. They lost by 16 runs in the end in a gripping contest that went down to the penultimate over as the Durham all-rounder, Mark Wood, finished his second Championship appearance with a career-best 5 for 78. Even a draw would have been of limited value to them at this stage of the race.For a while, it looked more likely that Nottinghamshire would win comfortably, even though Paul Collingwood’s declaration, which came after he lost his own wicket in the fourth over of the morning, left them with a stiff challenge, namely to score 366 in 90 overs. Although Nottinghamshire have twice in their history scored more than 400 in the last innings to win a match, they have only three times chased down more than they needed on this occasion.The pitch was markedly easier than it had been earlier in the contest, particularly compared with the second day, when England’s Graham Onions arrived from being stood down at Lord’s, found the ball swinging nicely and bouncing inconsistently and wound up with 9 for 67.This time, Riki Wessels and Alex Hales put on 168 in 42.1 overs with no-one, Onions included, able to trouble either man unduly until Wessels, within two runs of a third Championship century of the season, received a ball from Chris Rushworth that he tried to cut but which he could only steer into the hands of one of two fielders in the gully region.With that platform to build on, Nottinghamshire were favourites to win the match. But long chases, even with the benefit of such a good start, inevitably run into turbulent spells and Nottinghamshire hit one when Michael Lumb to- edged an attempted sweep off Scott Borthwick, the leg spinner, to be caught at short fine leg and then Adam Voges nicked his eighth ball to Phil Mustard as Onions at last found a bit of swing,Hales, whose form has been a little below par since he made 99 for England on this ground in the Twenty20 match against West Indies in June, completed his first century of the season amid some relief but was leg before soon afterwards to a full length ball from Wood. Hales took his time to depart the scene, perhaps feeling he might have hit the ball, but there could be no argument from Read when another very good delivery from Wood bowled him.Nottinghamshire needed precisely 100 from the last 25 overs, with five wickets in hand. On another occasion, they might have begun to think conservatively but there was no point in playing for a draw. The next 90 minutes or so therefore offered a tense spectacle.Durham, for their part, had every interest in pursuing a win for themselves. They have enjoyed some improvement since Mustard handed the captaincy to Paul Collingwood and the goal for them was a third win in a row, which would almost certainly mean that their anxieties over possible relegation could almost be put to bed after a long time spent at the bottom of the table.After a brief pause to regroup, Paul Franks and Graeme White attempted to raise the tempo, but Borthwick accounted for both in quick succession. Nottinghamshire are without the quality of James Taylor and Samit Patel in their batting line-up because of international calls and they felt their absence keenly in this match.Collingwood turned down the chance to take the new ball, preferring to keep on with Borthwick and Wood. It turned out to be the right move. Steven Mullaney kept Nottinghamshire’s hopes alive with a steady unbeaten 60 but ran out of partners.
Ben Phillips took three boundaries in a row off Borthwick, at which point Nottinghamshire still felt they might pull it off, needing 42 off as many balls, but Wood rose to the challenge.A couple of times he tried too hard and was no-balled for over-stepping but after Phillips had pulled him straight to midwicket he proved too good for Luke Fletcher and Andy Carter. He bowled the former twice in three balls — the first disallowed as a no-ball — and then pinned the latter squarely in front, which gave Durham victory with eight balls to spare.”If we could have got to the last over, against Borthwick, needing 10 or even 15, we might have done it,” a disappointed Mullaney said afterwards. “But it wasn’t to be.”I don’t think it is over yet. We have only three games left and Warwickshire have four but if Middlesex can squeeze a draw out of them or even win at Edgbaston next week, we still have to play them twice. Then we will see where we are when we go to Edgbaston. We could still be in a strong position.”It was fighting talk, as you would expect. But the odds against Nottinghamshire are much longer now.

Bangladesh are grouped with Pakistan and New Zealand and have ambitions of making it past the preliminary stage

Mohammad Isam20-Sep-2012

Overview

How Shakib Al Hasan fares in Sri Lanka could determine whether Bangladesh makes it past round one•AFP

The World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka will be as much a test of Bangladesh’s skills and preparation as a measure of their progress as an international side. They’ve been grouped with a team they crushed in ODIs two years ago, and the contest in Pallekele will be Bangladesh’s first against New Zealand since that 4-0 result. The other, and more recent, source of confidence is their wins against India and Sri Lanka during this year’s Asia Cup, when Bangladesh qualified for the final.Even Bangladesh’s poor record against their other Group D opponents should provide extra inspiration. They haven’t beaten Pakistan in 13 years, though in their last two matches they showed the readiness to fight, especially in the Asia Cup final in March.Bangladesh’s performance in that tournament is now considered the marker by many, though expecting the players to take a step further in the World Twenty20, where one bad over or shot could see them knocked out of the group stages, might be asking too much. They’re primarily focused on making it past the New Zealand game unscathed and hoping for a Super Eights berth. It is a realistic target for a team that played a quarter of all their Twenty20 internationals four months before the World Twenty20.

Key player

Shakib Al Hasan considers himself a leader in the team, and rightly so. He provides match-winning ability to a team that needs it, despite the presence of other talented players. Shakib’s batting and bowling averages are substantially better in Bangladesh wins in the past six years, a measure of his contribution to the team’s cause. He will be playing with a dodgy knee and will bat at No 3. The bowling attack will also revolve around his left-arm spin.

Surprise package

In Ziaur Rahman, Bangladesh finally have an end-over hitter who can clear his right leg and swing powerfully. After an awkward teething period in Zimbabwe, Rahman hit eleven sixes during the build-up tours and broadened his range from just midwicket. He can use his feet against the spinners but high pace will test him: when he encountered such bowling against South Africa in June, Rahman settled for boundaries and the odd nudge. A fast-bowling talent cut short due to injury, Rahman reinvented himself as the sort of a shock-value player Bangladesh has lacked since Mohammad Rafique’s heyday.

Weakness

Spin will test the Bangladesh batsmen, especially Pakistan’s offspinners. They tend to play out overs, which is a flawed strategy in a Twenty20 game. Also, they can be inflexible when things don’t go according to plan. A recent example of this was the middle-order collapses after Shakib’s dismissal during the two practice games in Sri Lanka.

World T20 history

A surprise win over West Indies took them to the Super Eights in 2007, but they failed to make it past the group stages in 2009 and 2010.

Recent form

Bangladesh have won four games out of six in 2012, results that include the 3-0 series win over Ireland in July. That performance took Bangladesh all the way up to No. 4 in the Twenty20 rankings but they returned to ninth three days later, after an unflattering start to their series in the Netherlands, where they won once and lost twice. One of those defeats was against Scotland. During an off-season dedicated to Twenty20, Bangladesh also won unofficial matches against South Africa, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Barbados on either side of the Europe tour.

VVS Laxman will lead Hyderabad in their opening game of the 2012-13 Ranji Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Oct-2012VVS Laxman will lead Hyderabad in their opening game of the 2012-13 Ranji Trophy, against Punjab in Mohali. Laxman, who retired from international cricket earlier this year, had said at the time he announced his decision that he wanted to play for Hyderabad this domestic season.Dwaraka Ravi Teja, who led Hyderabad last season, will deputise for Laxman this time. Pragyan Ojha has also been named in the squad for the opening game; he missed the bulk of the previous domestic season due to his India commitments.Hyderabad were part of the Plate League at the beginning of the last season but sneaked into the quarter-finals of the main tournament, where their campaign ended with a draw against eventual champions Rajasthan, who progressed on the basis of a first-innings lead.Sunil Joshi, the former India left-arm spinner, is the Hyderabad head coach and Noel David the fielding coach.Hyderabad squad: VVS Laxman (capt), Dwaraka Ravi Teja (vice-capt), Akshath Reddy, Hanuma Vihari, Arjun Yadav, Syed Ahmed Quadri, Bavanaka Sandeep, Ibrahim Khaleel, Pragyan Ojha, Ashish Reddy, Mohammed Khader, Anwar Ahmed, Pagadala Naidu, Abhinav Kumar, Vishal Sharma.

Dean Elgar, Colin Ingram, Justin Ontong and Ashwell Prince are the main contenders to take the injured JP Duminy’s place in the South Africa Test squad

Firdose Moonda in Brisbane10-Nov-2012JP Duminy knows the impact a moment can have on a career. The instant Ashwell Prince’s hand was fractured in Perth in 2008, Duminy was given a chance to perform on the international stage. In a nasty twist, the second he snapped his Achilles’ tendon in Brisbane someone else will get that opportunity this time.Faf du Plessis is going to be the biggest benefactor of that. This is his second tour as a back-up batsman in the Test squad – a spot he earned through his improvements in the first-class game – and will likely slot in Duminy’s place. Until Matthew Maynard took charge of the Titans, du Plessis was batting in the lower middle-order, did not spent much time at the crease as a result and his string of low scores came through batting with the tail.Maynard suggested that du Plessis move up to No. 4 and the change gave him everything he did not have before: more time and more runs. In four first-class matches he scored 599 runs which included three hundreds. Du Plessis captained South Africa A against Sri Lanka A in June and scored a hundred in the first unofficial Test. He was due to lead them again in Ireland but was called up to the Test squad in England after Albie Morkel suffered an ankle injury.Batting at No. 7 will put du Plessis back in the position where he floundered at the Titans but in a Test side, he won’t complain. Du Plessis will also offer the option of his more than part-time legspin and has been rated one of the best fielders in the world. As a replacement, he is more than ideal, which can only serve to worry Duminy more.The rest of the chasing pack inspires a little less confidence. One of Dean Elgar, Justin Ontong, Prince or Colin Ingram will be called up as a shadow member of the squad. ESPNcricinfo understand that Elgar is in prime position to get the nod, although his first-class form of late has not been as notable as the other candidates.His overall average is an impressive 44.75 but he has only played one match this season in which he scored 44 and 2. He was part of South Africa’s ODI squad in England and top scored with 42 and played with du Plessis against Sri Lanka A where he outscored him with 171. He was also part of South Africa’s one-day squad who faced Sri Lanka in January but tore ligaments in his knee and experienced a lengthy injury layoff.Elgar’s call-up will be seen as a long time coming, given that he has long hovered around the national set-up and is considered to be the future. But going back to the past has not always hurt South Africa. Vernon Philander, Rory Kleinveldt and Hashim Amla are cases in point and could serve as the example to recall an old hand.All three of Ontong, Prince and Ingram have been in good form and are difficult to look past. For Ontong, being re-selected could be a coming full circle after his last tour of Australia – the traumatic 2001-02 series where he was picked over Jacques Rudolph. Of the middle-order batsmen last season, Ontong was the top scorer. In nine matches, he scored 658 runs at an average of 59.81, with two hundreds and four fifties. He is currently captaining the Cobras and has been involved in the limited-overs squads.For Prince, anther nod would also be a completion of something. He lost his place after the 2008 injury to Duminy and although he would never wish to get it back in the same fashion, it may be fate’s way of repaying him. Since Prince was dropped after the Boxing Day Test against Sri Lanka in Durban last December, he has done well for Lancashire and started this season with 213 runs in three matches for the Warriors. He remains a nationally contracted player and Andrew Hudson, convenor of selectors, said at the time of Prince’s exit that he would remain in their thoughts.Prince’s experience would not go unnoticed either, especially as it is a trait Gary Kirsten has placed great value in. But it could also be a quality which works against him. South African management may not fancy calling Prince up only to put him on the bench, which is the domain of rookies.For that reason, Ingram could come into contention having played in the limited-overs sides but never being part of the Test squad. Ingram fell out of favour after the ODI series against Sri Lanka in January but has been churning out the runs at franchise level. His 270 runs in three matches this season have come at an average of 54.00.With South African cricket making a noticeable effort to reward performances at domestic level, any of these players would be deserving of their place, just as Duminy was four years ago.

A wrap of the final day of the first round of Ranji Trophy matches in Group C

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Nov-2012
Scorecard
Saurabh Tiwary’s patient 27 was not enough in Jharkhand’s unsuccessful chase of 213 (file photo)•Getty Images

Assam’s spin twins, J Syed Mohammad and Arlen Konwar, delivered them a second win in as many matches, keeping Jharkhand down to 157 in their defence of 212. It will be ironical to Tamil Nadu supporters that on the day their spinners struggled badly on a rank turner, Syed, who has played Under-19 cricket for them, took his first five-wicket haul for another team and took them to the top of Group C.Jharkhand began the day needing 157 with eight wickets in hand, but Syed took little time in dismissing the first-innings half-centurion and danger man Rameez Nemat for 42. Saurabh Tiwary and Deepak Chougule then added 29 for the fourth wicket, but Syed dismissed Tiwary too to make it 101 for 4.To make things worse for Jharkhand, he trapped Chougule too, and at 120 for 5 Assam were the favourites. Wicketkeeeper Shiv Gautam, though, had other ideas, and took Jharkhand to 155 for 6. By now, the first-innings hero, Konwar, had swung into action, and had begun chipping at the lower order. To seal the deal, Syed dismissed Gautam for 30. At 155 for 8, it was all but over. Konwar completed the formalities, and the four wickets gave him a maiden 10-wicket match haul.
Scorecard
Shadab Jakati’s four-wicket burst at the top of Jammu & Kashmir’s innings injected some interest into an otherwise drab match, but Bandeep Singh and captain Samiullah Beigh fought it out to a draw and their first point of the season. Playing their first match of the season, Goa had already secured three points when they went past J&K’s 338 in the first session.They began the day needing 81, and even though they lost Manvinder Bisla early, Goa kept moving towards the target steadily. Reagan Pinto and Ravikant Shukla were at the wicket when the first-innings lead was secured, and Pinto went on to score an unbeaten half-century.An innings run rate of 2.63 an over didn’t suggest any desperation for an outright result, but Jakati livened up the proceedings. At 40 for 6, J&K were still 28 short of avoiding an innings defeat. However, Beigh, who scored a fifty in the first innings, and Bandeep batted out a whopping 41.3 overs for an unbeaten 55-run partnership. That was a point well earned.
Scorecard
For the second game in a row, Himachal Pradesh went into the final day looking to force an outright win. And for the second time, they were thwarted by some dogged batting.Himachal needed eight wickets, they began well enough, claiming the third wicket in the second over of the day, but Soumya Swain and Anshul Gupta of Services played out 46.4 overs for the fourth wicket, and Swain and Yashpal Singh remained unseparated for 26.5 overs. Swain’s unbeaten 118 was his second first-class century, while Gupta and Yashpal posted fifties too.
Scorecard
Andhra bowlers took three early wickets, but that was not enough to bring to life a sleepy contest in Anantapur. Andhra had already taken the lead on the third day, and Tripura were not showing any inclination to go for quick runs.Once Andhra reduced them to 74 for 3, though, they had to dig deep to salvage the solitary point. Subhrajit Roy and Ajay Ratra did just that. They batted out 41.2 overs for the fourth wicket. That was enough even though they added 83. Once Roy got out for 81, there was no interest left in the game, and the draw was amicably called.

An ability to “learn and adapt” has been identified by Andy Flower as the key to England’s series victory in India

George Dobell18-Dec-2012An ability to “learn and adapt” has been identified by Andy Flower as the key to England’s series success victory in India. By drawing the final Test in Nagpur, England secured their first series win in India since 1984-85 and inflicted a first home series defeat upon India since 2004.It was a far cry from the events in the UAE a few months earlier. At that time, as England succumbed to a 3-0 series defeat against Pakistan, England’s batsmen had no answer to the spin threat of Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman.But Flower, the England team director, took particular satisfaction from the way his team had accepted their failings in the UAE and worked to improve. He also admitted that an element of complacency may have crept into the squad after they had reached the No.1 Test ranking at the end of 2011.”I don’t know if lost focus is quite the right phrase to use,” Flower said, “but if there are degrees of hunger and desire perhaps we dropped off a couple after getting to No 1.”We had a tough time in the UAE against Pakistan at the start of the year, and one of the most satisfying things at the minute – certainly for me, and I’m sure for the players – is that they’ve shown they can score runs. We’ve come out here and very importantly shown that this bunch of cricketers can learn and adapt.”They have proved they have learned a lot. For some of the older players, guys that have been around and have excellent Test career achievement, that is testament to their humility and their maturity to continue their learning into this phase of their careers. They have still adapted their game and shown their game can improve. It’s taken a lot of hard work, a lot of thought and a lot of skill out there in the middle. They should be very proud of themselves.”We certainly refocused on this challenge in India. We knew we would have to display that we have learned certain things about the game of cricket in these conditions if we were to prevail so it’s nice to see that has happened. I certainly wouldn’t describe it as a year of decline.”Flower credited Alastair Cook as a key figure in England’s success. Cook, the England captain, led from the front with a defiant century in defeat in Ahmedabad that showed his team what could be achieved with patience and composure. While Cook also made centuries in Mumbai and Kolkata, an increasing number of his team-mates contributed decisive performances as the series progressed.”That innings at Ahmedabad was vitally important as a lead,” Flower said. “It provided evidence that runs could be scored if you use your brain, if you’ve got a reasonable method, if you show courage and discipline. He did that and for the captain to do that was especially important. He has been very influential in the series. We are very lucky to follow a quality bloke like Andrew Strauss with a quality bloke like Alastair Cook as leaders of the England side.

England’s testing year

v Pakistan, Dubai Lost by 10 wickets
v Pakistan, Abu Dhabi Lost by 72 runs
v Pakistan, Dubai Lost by 72 runs

v Sri Lanka, Galle Lost by 75 runs
v Sri Lanka, Colombo Won by eight wickets

v West Indies, Lord’s Won by five wickets
v West Indies, Trent Bridge Won by nine wickets
v West Indies, Edgbaston Drawn

v South Africa, The Oval Lost by an innings and 12 runs
v South Africa, Headingley Drawn
v South Africa, Lord’s Lost by 51 runs

v India, Ahmedabad Lost by nine wickets
v India, Mumbai Won by 10 wickets
v India, Kolkata Won by seven wickets
v India, Nagpur Match Drawn

“I said to him I thought tactically he has been excellent – and you can’t always say that about English sides in the sub-continent. I think he’s been a good observer of the opposition, and what works for them, and he’s used some of that to our advantage.”There was also praise for Kevin Pietersen who returned to the squad for this series having been dropped following revelations about his poor relationship with his England team-mates. Pietersen started nervously, but made a brilliant century at Mumbai which helped alter the direction of the series.”He has been excellent since he has been back with the England side,” Flower said. “The guys have enjoyed having him around and he has fitted in really easily and everyone has made an effort to make it work. It has worked.”He has played superbly. I thought his innings in Mumbai on a difficult, turning track was one of the better innings I have seen played against spinners in those type of conditions. It was a very, very skilful innings; even more skilful after he had struggled in the first Test because that piled a certain amount of pressure on him. So for him to handle that pressure, turn it round and then dominate the opposition as he did was great testament to him holding his nerve.”While the victory provided a happy ending to a difficult year, Flower was keen to stress that there had been other positive achievements among the disappointments.”We’ve had up-and-down results,” he said. “We didn’t play that well against the spin in the UAE, but we’ve also done some superb things.”We became number one in one-day international cricket; we drew an important Test series in Sri Lanka, and won one against the West Indies. And then we lost to a very good South African side in England. I don’t think there is any embarrassment in that. That happens in international sport.”Flower is now taking a break. While England return to T20 action on Thursday, Flower will be back in the UK with his family having relinquished his day-to-day involvement with England’s limited-overs squads. Ashley Giles starts in the role of England’s limited-overs coach in the New Year.But it would be incorrect to conclude that Flower is not still the man in charge in all formats of the game. The idea is that Giles will bring new energy to the limited-overs teams, allowing Flower to remain fresh and to spend more time with his family. Certainly he is still planning for challenges ahead in all formats, with the Champions Trophy, to be played in England in 2013, a particular target.”I do have a young family and they have supported me amazingly well over my playing and coaching career and it is time for me to make sure that I can give a little more time to them,” Flower said. “The purpose of the move is to make us a more efficient organisation and to use our resources as wisely as possible so certainly that will assist me to remain involved with the English side.”Ashley Giles is a smart cricket coach with very good experience of both coaching and playing and I think he can do a very good job with the limited-overs sides. We hope he can take the limited-overs teams forward. We don’t know if the system is going to work ideally, just like we didn’t when we introduced three different captains for the three different facets of cricket that we play. But our job is to make it work.”It is going to be a busy year. We’ve got the Champions Trophy – one of our priorities – happening in England and we’ll have a chance there. Then there’s the two Ashes series in the second half of the year. That’s going to be some tough, sustained cricket. But we’ve shown out here that we can play that type of cricket, and that we learn to survive in different conditions.”

A round-up of the QEA Trophy matches that ended on January 16

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jan-2013Group 1Quetta routed Peshawar by an innings and 171 runs inside three days at the Arbab Niaz Stadium.After being sent into bat, Quetta posted a formidable first-innings score, with Ali Asad making an unbeaten 210 and the captain Taimur Ali scoring 120. It was Ali Asad’s highest first-class score, and Taimur’s third hundred in 53 matches. Quetta declared on 483 for 8 on the second day.Peshawar ended that day on 70 for 4 in their first innings and collapsed to 117 all out in 41.3 overs on the third. Naved Khan was the only batsman to make more than 20 as Gohar Faiz took career best figures of 5 for 39 for Quetta. Peshawar had been 51 for 1 at one stage so they lost nine wickets for 66 runs.They fared only marginally better in the follow-on. Arun Lal took 5 for 69 for Quetta as they dismissed Peshawar for 195 in 41.2 overs. Gauhar Ali scored a run a ball 59 but with little support from his team-mates Peshawar slid surely towards a huge defeat.An unbeaten century from Majid Jahangir led Sialkot to a nine-wicket victory against Islamabad on the fourth day in Lahore. Chasing a target of 209, Jahangir made 112 and Faisal Khan scored an unbeaten 68 to help Sialkot get to victory in the 48th over.Sialkot’s fourth innings score of 212 for 1 was markedly different from the other three batting efforts. After choosing to bowl, Sialkot had taken the upper hand by dismissing Islamabad for 193 in 71.3 overs. Islamabad were struggling at 123 for 6 before Imad Wasim’s unbeaten 70 helped them add 70 more. Nayyer Abbas took 4 for 27 for Sialkot.Sialkot’s advantage was quickly neutralised, though, when Islamabad had them tottering at 75 for 7, with Nasrullah Khan and Iftikhar Anjum cutting through the top order. A brace of half-centuries from Abbas and Bilal Butt – a partnership of 103 for the eighth wicket – lifted them to 202. Iftikhar finished with 5 for 62.In their second innings, Islamabad lost a wicket before the deficit of 9 was erased, and two more when the lead was only 3. They then had a partnership of 89 for the fourth wicket and prospects were looking good. They slumped thereafter, though, losing wickets frequently to be dismissed in 76 overs for 217. Faizan Riaz and Wasim scored 51 and 50, while Ali Khan took 3 for 42.A target of 209 should have been challenging, considering the trend of the previous three innings, but Sialkot gunned for the loss of only one wicket.Multan earned three points for taking the first-innings lead in their drawn match against Lahore Ravi in Lahore.Multan made a poor start to their first innings after they were sent in to bat, and were struggling at 20 for 3. They were steadied by Shoaib Maqsood and their captain Naved Yasin, who added 176 for the fourth wicket. Maqsood scored 109, while Yasin made 80. They lost wickets in pairs thereafter, though, and were dismissed for 309 early on the second day. Adnan Rasool took 5 for 91 for Lahore Ravi.Lahore Ravi were coasting towards a first-innings lead, having reached 173 for 1 because of opener Irfan Haider’s half-century. They then lost two wickets on the same score and later on slipped from 220 for 3 to 248 all out. Rahat Ali took 5 for 44 and Zulfiqar Babar took 3 for 99 for Multan.Multan were more solid in their second innings, with the openers Usman Liaqat and Zeeshan Ashraf scoring half-centuries and the rest of the top order getting starts. They progressed to 252 for 5 – Ali Manzoor took four of those wickets for Lahore Ravi – before declaring 313 runs ahead.Lahore Ravi lost two early wickets in the chase but Ikhlaq Butt made 105 and Saadullah Gauri scored 62 to ensure there would be no outright defeat. They finished on 219 for 5 as the game was drawn.Group 2Mohtashim Ali and Fawad Alam scored centuries to help Karachi Whites earn first-innings points from a drawn match against Hyderabad at the Niaz Stadium.Hyderabad had won the toss and decided to bat at home. They lost an early wicket but were steadied by opener Sharjeel Khan’s 64. Rizwan Ahmed made 105 at No. 4 but unfortunately for the hosts those were the only two innings of substance. Atif Maqbool took 5 for 97 for Karachi Whites to help them dismiss Hyderabad for 309.Karachi Whites had taken the lead, thanks to Mohtashim (121) and Alam, before they slipped from 312 for 4 to 322 for 7. Mohammad Sami scored 77 off 99 balls though and Alam remained unbeaten on 153 as Karachi Whites eventually declared on 496 for 8.Hyderabad slipped to 69 for 3 in their second innings before Rizwan Ahmed scored his second century of the match to prop them up. They ended on 277 for 6, with Maqbool and Faraz Ahmed taking three wickets each for Karachi Whites.Rawalpindi overcame a significant first-innings deficit to pull off a thrilling chase by two wickets against Faisalabad at the Mirpur Cricket Stadium.Faisalabad, after getting sent in to bat, had been dismissed for 226 in the first innings. Moazzam Hayat made 52, Mohammad Salman scored an unbeaten 70, and Zeeshan Butt scored 45, but there was not much else from the others. Sadaf Hussain took 4 for 63 for Rawalpindi.In their reply, Rawalpindi were shot out for 132 in 40.1 overs. They were floundering at 73 for 7 before Umar Waheed made 39 and Mohammad Nawaz 22. Waqas Maqsood took 4 for 62 for Faisalabad, while Nasir Akram and Hasan Mahmood took three each.Rawalpindi then returned the favour, dismissing Faisalabad for 130 in their second innings. Sadaf Hussain claimed 4 for 17 in 5.3 overs and Nasir Malik took 3 for 55. Faisalabad would not have got past 100 if not for Mohammad Salam’s 42. They were 66 for 8 at one stage and he was the only batsman to make more than 20. Because of their first-inninsg lead of 94, Faisalabad were ahead by 224.Rawalpindi’s chase began poorly: they were 46 for 4. Umar Waheed, the No. 3 batsman, was steady at his end and he found a partner in Adnan Mufti. They added 90 runs for the fifth wicket before Mufti was dismissed. Waheed then dominated a sixth wicket stand of 56 with Zahid Mansoor that took Rawalpindi to 192. Though wickets fell at one end, Waheed remained firm at the other and he was unbeaten on 99, with the No. 10, Nasir Malik for company when the winning runs were scored.

Josh Hazlewood will miss at least the first two matches for Australia A against the England Lions this month due to the latest in a series of foot ailments

Daniel Brettig14-Feb-2013Josh Hazlewood will miss at least the first two matches for Australia A against the England Lions this month after his unfortunate litany of foot ailments was maintained during Australia’s Twenty20 loss to the West Indies in Brisbane on Wednesday night.Alister McDermott has been called up to replace Hazlewood for the two fixtures in Hobart, leaving Cricket Australia medical staff to determine whether he will be ready to return for the balance of the five-match series.Figures of 1 for 36 at the Gabba did not do full justice to Hazlewood, who impressed with his height and bounce, claiming the wicket of Chris Gayle. But the news that he has again suffered foot trouble will be a source of concern for the national selectors given their desire to ease him into a more regular place at international level.”Hazlewood suffered a foot injury during last night’s T20I in Brisbane and as a result has been withdrawn from the first two matches of the Australia A series,” A CA spokesman said. “A decision on his participation for the remaining fixtures will be determined once a further assessment has taken place.”At 22, Hazlewood is widely considered one of Australia’s most promising pace prospects, his height and disciplined line providing a contrast tot he swing and pace of James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins.However the selectors’ efforts to increase Hazlewood’s familiarity with the national team have been confounded numerous times by foot injuries. He was close to selection for the third Test against South Africa in Perth last year before a stress hot spot was located, keeping him out of the summer until the closing rounds of the Big Bash League.Last summer Hazlewood was also absent for long periods with a foot stress fracture. He debuted for Australia against England at Southampton in 2010 but in a first-class career that began in 2008 he has still played only 16 matches.