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Shadab Khan returns to the T20I side as vice-captain, while Rizwan retains his ODI captaincy

Danyal Rasool04-Mar-2025Pakistan have shuffled the deck once more in an attempt to find the right T20I combination, dropping captain Mohammad Rizwan as well as Babar Azam for the five-match series in New Zealand.In the first squad announced since Pakistan’s ignominious exit from a home Champions Trophy, there are several changes, including the return of Shadab Khan – also appointed vice-captain, and the awarding of the T20I captaincy to Rizwan’s deputy Salman Agha. On the ODI front, Rizwan retains his captaincy, but Shaheen Afridi has been dropped.According to a PCB release, Mohammad Haris returns after an extended spell out of the national side, while Saim Ayub remains absent with the ankle injury he picked up in South Africa. Hasan Nawaz, the 22-year old wicketkeeper who has played just 21 T20s, is in the squad. Abdul Samad, the 27-year-old big-hitting batter who is also yet to play PSL cricket, comes in after a positive domestic T20 tournament showing. Quetta Gladiators batter Omair Yousuf earns a call-up as Pakistan pivot sharply away from their experienced batters in the format.Pakistan’s white-ball squads for their tour of New Zealand•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

There are fewer changes in the bowling department, with the make-up roughly the same as it was for their recent T20I series in South Africa. Afridi and Haris Rauf are part of the squad, but Naseem Shah – who last played T20Is against Australia in November – remains absent. Spinners Sufiyaan Muqeem and Abrar Ahmed retain their places, while Khushdil Shah comes into the side.Related

• Dissecting Pakistan downfall: What's the way ahead?

• Pakistan face patchwork New Zealand in first test of their new T20 era

• Agha promises 'fearless and high-risk' brand of cricket as Pakistan captain

• Fakhar Zaman dismisses retirement talk, expects to be back 'within the month'

These changes bring an end to an unhappy, if brief, stint as T20I captain for Rizwan. He led Pakistan as full-time captain in just four completed T20Is, losing all of them. He was absent for the three T20Is in Zimbabwe, with Agha leading the team as Pakistan won 2-1.Babar’s absence, too, suggests Pakistan are once again looking to break free of the Babar-Rizwan combination at the top of the order. The duo have polarised opinion almost as soon as the combination was set up in 2020. Critics have panned them for being too-risk averse at the start in T20Is, but their reliability and consistency of run accumulation, set in contrast against an oft-misfiring middle order, had seen Pakistan continue to return to them.The ODI squad doesn’t include such drastic changes, except for the omission of Afridi. He was Pakistan’s best bowler in their ODI series wins in South Africa and Australia. Rizwan retains the ODI captaincy and Babar is in the squad, while Abdullah Shafique returns after being dropped for the Champions Trophy. Left-arm quick Akif Javed earns a maiden ODI squad selection while Sufiyaan Muqeem returns as well.Pakistan play five T20Is in New Zealand starting March 16, followed by three ODIs.Pakistan T20I squad: Hasan Nawaz, Omair Yousuf, Mohammad Haris, Abdul Samad, Salman Agha (capt), Irfan Niazi, Khushdil Shah, Shadab Khan, Abbas Afridi, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Sufiyaan Muqeem, Abrar Ahmed, Usman KhanPakistan ODI squad: Mohammad Rizwan (capt), Salman Agha, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Akif Javed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Irfan Niazi, Naseem Shah, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir.

Heinrich Klaasen was belting sixes again as Australia look to continue their improvement, with a possible return for Travis Head

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Oct-20232:49

Bond: Sad that de Kock’s retiring in his prime

—Fixtures | Squads | Points table | Tournament Index

Top Story: de Kock, Klaasen lead South Africa’s demolition of Bangladesh

South Africa continue to bludgeon all before their path when they bat first, and it doesn’t seem to matter who’s in the way. This time, it was Bangladesh who were the unfortunate victims, with South Africa putting them to the sword in a 149-run demolition.It was led by an enormous contribution from Quinton de Kock, whose 140-ball 174 powered South Africa to 382. At the death, to help him along, he had Heinrich Klaasen, who smashed 90 off 49 balls as South Africa racked up 144 in the final 10 overs. Bangladesh were never in the chase in response and, as with every other game of South Africa’s in this tournament, all five bowlers chipped in with wickets.Click here for the full report

Match analysis: Making sense of South Africa’s sixy start to the World Cup

Quinton de Kock finished with a 140-ball 174 with 15 fours and seven sixes•ICC/Getty Images

The top three totals at this World Cup belong to South Africa, including the only one over 400, which is also the highest tournament total ever. Six of the 19 hundreds scored so far come from South Africans. The leading run-scorer so far – Quinton de Kock – is South African and he also has the best individual score to date.In his 150th ODI, de Kock slammed 174 – 14 short of the South African record still held by Gary Kirsten – and 26 shy of a double-ton, which batting coach JP Duminy confirmed is on de Kock’s wishlist as something to achieve before he quits the format after this World Cup. That de Kock appears to have saved his best for last has been obvious since the Sri Lanka game in Delhi but to suggest he is simply throwing his bat in his last few innings and hoping for the best would be doing a disservice to a player in scintillating touch.Click here to read the full analysis from Firdose Moonda in Mumbai

Must Watch: Shane Bond and Cheteshwar Pujara on South Africa’s success

1:44

The secret to South Africa scoring huge totals

News headlines

• Allrounder Angelo Mathews has replaced fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana in Sri Lanka’s World Cup squad.
• Pakistan’s captain Babar Azam did not hold back on the criticism of his players following the team’s eight-wicket loss to Afghanistan.

Match preview

Australia vs Netherlands, Mumbai (2pm IST; 8.30am GMT; 7.30pm AEDT5:31

If Travis Head comes in, who goes out?

There has long been a connection between Netherlands and Australian cricket. It is perhaps not quite as strong as South Africa’s connection to the current Dutch team but their captain, Scott Edwards, is an Australian citizen having grown up in Melbourne and played second XI cricket for Victoria. He has introduced a Netherlands team song that is a shameless rebrand of the song of his favourite Australian Football League club Richmond. From Edwards to former Dutch coach Ryan Campbell, to Tom Cooper, Timm van der Gugten, Michael Swart and Dirk Nannes, among others, plenty of Australian domestic players have had an impact on Netherlands cricket.But there will be no love lost in Delhi on Wednesday. Netherlands are gunning for another big scalp, having already taken down South Africa and potentially missed an opportunity against Sri Lanka. Australia are looking to continue their momentum. They will not be taking the Netherlands lightly, but they would love a statement win having been tested at times against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.Full previewTeam newsAustralia (probable) 1 David Warner, 2 Travis Head, 3 Mitchell Marsh, 4 Steven Smith, 5 Josh Inglis (wk), 6 Glenn Maxwell, 7 Marcus Stoinis, 8 Pat Cummins (capt), 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Adam ZampaNetherlands (probable) 1 Vikramjit Singh, 2 Max O’Dowd, 3 Colin Ackermann, 4 Bas de Leede, 5 Teja Nidamanuru, 6 Scott Edwards (capt & wk), 7 Sybrand Engelbrecht, 8 Roelof van der Merwe, 9 Logan van Beek, 10 Aryan Dutt, 11 Paul van Meekeren

Feature: Dear World Cup, please be more exciting, please?

Rashid Khan celebrates Afghanistan’s win over Pakistan•ICC/Getty Images

Roughly halfway through the league stage, this World Cup has had three big upsets – Afghanistan’s stunning of Pakistan on Monday the latest. Ordinarily this would seem like plenty, but in this World Cup, it seems like not nearly enough.None of the finishes have gone into the last over, and iconic moments have been in short supply (like Jonty Rhodes supermanning the stumps, say, or Ben Stokes’ backwards salmon-leap to take that outfield catch). Like the Death Star closing in on Alderaan, India’s storming towards the knockouts is also going almost exactly as the powers had intended.Read the full piece from Andrew Fidel Fernando in Delhi

Sri Lanka were bowled out inside a session on the third day in Galle as the first Test hurtled to a finish. Here’s how it unfolded

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jul-2022Dimuth Karunaratne: c Carey b Lyon 23
5.3 Bottom edge, given! Went for the sweep from outside off and gets a thin tickle. Neatly done from Carey who has done well in tough conditions behind the stumps. Australia have their first | 37 for 1Pathum Nissanka: lbw b Swepson 14
6.5 Big appeal and given lbw! Nissanka goes for the sweep and misses. Looks very straight but he reviews. Pitches middle, straightens a touch, takes the back leg. Not sure this will be missing. And it’s clipping off stump. Not stone dead, but will stay out | 39 for 2Kusal Mendis: c Swepson b Lyon 8
11.1 Top edge, taken at deep backward square! Sweeps again, can’t keep it down, Swepson settles under it nicely in that well-positioned spot which is in from the boundary. Excellent from Cummins and Lyon. There won’t be a Mendis special today | 59 for 3Oshada Fernando: c Smith b Swepson 12
12.2 Is that caught at slip? Oshada goes for the drive to one tossed up outside off and gets a thick edge to slip. Taken cleanly but Oshada thinks it’s a bump ball. Aussie’s are confident though, and turns out they were right, as replays show this takes a clean edge through to the keeper. That’s another one for Swepson, and the Aussies are ripping through this Lankan batting line-up | 63 for 4Dinesh Chandimal: b Head 11
18.2 Blimey! He’s cleaned him up! What an absolute ripper, and Chandimal just stands there in disbelief before eventually walking off. This spun a mile from outside off, right through the gap between bat and pad as Chandimal looked to push this gently towards cover. A delivery Murali himself would have been proud of! | 95 for 5Dhananjaya de Silva was lbw padding up at Travis Head•AFP

Dhananjaya de Silva: lbw b Head 11
18.5 Huge appeal for lbw here! Given not out, but Head is convinced and they review this. And my word this is close, as Dhananjaya chooses to leave this sharp off spinning delivery alone, but ends up getting struck right in front of middle and leg. And yes, he is a goner! Three reds! | 96 for 6Ramesh Mendis: c Khawaja b Lyon 3
19.4 And another one bites the dust! Mendis goes for the sweep this time, but only manages a top edge down to deep fine leg, who’s a few yards in from the boundary for just this type of stroke | 97 for 7Niroshan Dickwella: c Labuschagne b Lyon 3
21.2 And Dickwella goes! No repeat of his first innings heroics here, as he goes for the reverse sweep and gets a low top edge towards Marnus at cover, who dives full length to his left to hold on to good low take | 108 for 8Jeffrey Vandersay: b Head 8
22.1 And Head has his third! Again with a ripper through bat and pad, as Vandersay goes for the forward defence but ends up with his stumps disturbed. This is a beaut of a ball, just clipping the top of leg | 108 for 9Lasith Embuldeniya lbw b Head 0
22.5 Is that the innings wrapped up?! This is tossed up from Head on middle and leg, and it beats the bat as the batter looks to work this onside. He’s struck on the front pad and given not out, Australia review. This could be going down leg, but has it straightened enough? Yes, yes it has! Three reds as this is shown to hit leg. And Sri Lanka are all out for 113!

Axar Patel, who picked up 11 wickets in the third Test against England, also gained 30 slots to reach the 38th position

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Feb-2021Rohit Sharma has climbed six places to a career-best eighth position in the ICC men’s Test batsmen’s rankings, while R Ashwin has progressed four places to third position on the bowlers’ rankings on the back of their performances in the third Test against England in Ahmedabad that India won by ten wickets.Left-arm spinner Axar Patel, who was named Player of the Match for his 11-wicket match haul in what was only his second Test, gained 30 slots to reach the 38th position.Sharma, who top-scored in the first innings with 66 and carried India over the line with an unbeaten 25 in the second, now has 742 rating points, 20 more than his previous best of 722 in October 2019 when he was ranked tenth.Sharma, Patel, and Ashwin, who took seven wickets across the two innings and crossed 400 Test wickets, were the chief architects of India’s resounding win in a low-scoring contest on a tricky Ahmedabad pitch, which helped keep them in contention for the final of the inaugural World Test Championship.From the English side, left-arm spinner Jack Leach broke into the top 30, moving up three places to 28th after taking four wickets. Captain Joe Root’s maiden five-wicket haul helped him advance 16 places to 72nd among bowlers. He also made gains in the allrounders’ rankings, claiming the joint-13th position with New Zealand’s Tim Southee.Opener Zak Crawley’s 53 in the first innings lifted him 15 places to 46th in what was the only notable gain for any England batsman.

Bangladesh’s coach says the Test team needs structural changes, for which he is prepared to pick ‘new faces and struggle for a period of time’

Mohammad Isam in Indore15-Nov-2019Bangladesh coach Russell Domingo has called for structural changes in the Test side for overall improvement. He pointed towards the need for a seam-bowling allrounder who would bat at No 7 or 8, to provide the balance that the current side lacks.Bangladesh are playing seven batsmen, including wicketkeeper Liton Das, and four bowlers in the first Test against India. Mehidy Hasan Miraz hasn’t lived up to the promise that he could develop into an allrounder, which has left Bangladesh with a long tail. The squad outside the playing XI consists of three specialist bowlers and an opening batsman, so Domingo will have to wait for that elusive allrounder to emerge.”There’s no doubt that the structure of the team needs change, otherwise the results are going to be the same,” Domingo said. “I need to sit with the selectors to plan the way forward. I need to identify the players that can take the team forward. If it means that we need to go with some new faces and struggle for a period of time, I don’t think it is any different to what is happening at the moment.”There’s some fantastic players in our side that needs to be respected. We need to value their performances for Bangladesh, but we also need to take decision in the best interest of the team.”The missing link here is, of course, Shakib Al Hasan, who gave the team the flexibility to play five bowlers. The team management, however, has often been reluctant to play that fifth bowler, and have often played an eighth batsman even when Shakib has been in the side.Domingo said Bangladesh will need to find a seaming allrounder like Mohammad Saifuddin, who has done a decent job in the ODI and T20I sides, but often struggles with injury.”It is very hard to play with two seamers,” Domingo said. “We definitely need to find a third seamer who can bat. There’s Saifuddin, but he is struggling with injuries. But the structure of the team needs attention.”I think a lot of teams that play against Bangladesh will prepare good wickets, which won’t spin much. We need to find a seamer who can do a No 7 or 8 job for us with the bat.”Russell Domingo keeps an eye on a Bangladesh training session•BCB

Domingo said Bangladesh tend to pick the extra batsman because not many of the top seven have good Test averages, and this forces the team to sacrifice a bowler. “I think it is easy to say when you have six batters who are all averaging 45 or 50. You look at the numbers of the Indian batters, but unfortunately we don’t have those numbers in our batting line-up.”We are playing that extra batter to make up for that. It is a catch-22 situation. If you don’t pick up wickets, people say why you didn’t take the extra bowler. Hindsight is a great sight.”What Domingo is also worried about is the level of interest his players show in Test cricket as opposed to T20 cricket.”It is a challenge which I need to come to terms to, as a coach.” Domingo said. “It is obviously a tough one, being my second Test match and seeing how guys approach Tests, how they train leading into Test cricket. It is hard for me to say whether guys prefer [Test cricket or the shorter formats], that you need to ask them.”There are definitely players who are more suited to T20s, and some more suited to Tests. Some players are hungry when they play T20, some are hungry when they Tests.”I think trying to siphon out the T20 into one side and Test-match guys into one side is something that I am grappling with. After this last T20 series and the first days of the Test, I am starting to get an understanding.”

Denly and Adam Riley took eight wickets between them before Kent reached their target with nine overs to spare

ECB Reporters Network01-Sep-2018
ScorecardJoe Denly made a late entrance to record his best first-class figures as Kent moved into the promotion places with a six wicket win over Derbyshire in the Division Two match at Derby.Denly was of the field for most of the final morning through illness but took the last four wickets to finish with 4 for 36 to bowl Derbyshire out for 270 with Harvey Hosein top-scoring with an unbeaten 66.That left Kent with a target of 110 and although they lost wickets with the finish in sight, a 23-point victory took them above Sussex into second place.Derbyshire began the day 78 runs behind and Matt Henry struck early by finding just enough away movement to have Alex Hughes caught behind and become the second bowler to take 50 Championship wickets this season.Tom Lace had shown good technique and temperament in both innings on his first-class debut and was looking secure until a change of bowling gave Kent another success.Grant Stewart’s second ball beat Lace’s forward push and took the top of off stump to dismiss the 20-year-old for 43.Kent struck again in the next over when Matt Critchley edged Adam Riley and the ball stuck between the knees of Billings as he dived forward.Sean Ervine drove Stewart through the covers for four but became another victim for Riley in the 53rd over when the ball hit the back of his bat via pad and looped to silly point.At 137 for 6, an early finish beckoned but Hosein and Hardus Viljoen took the game into the afternoon and ensured Kent would have to bat again.The pair survived for another eight overs after the interval until Viljoen sliced Denly to point but Palladino joined Hosein to force Billings to take the second new ball.Kent’s frustration increased when Riley put down a head high chance to gully with Hosein on 44 and he reached his 50 in the same over by driving Stewart for his seventh four.Denly broke the stand when Palladino was lbw to one that kept low two overs before tea and the leg-spinner quickly wrapped up the innings after the interval leaving Kent 28 overs to knock off the runs.Sean Dickson showed his dismay at being given out caught behind off Lockie Ferguson in the fifth over but Zak Crawley and Heino Kuhn added 57 in six overs before Crawley edged Hamidullah Qadri to slip.Kuhn sliced Critchley to point and Denly gave Qadri a return catch but Kent survived the late drama to secure a fourth away win.

The South Africans enjoyed a productive outing at New Road, with four batsmen registering half-centuries as England Lions managed just three wickets on another shortened day.

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jun-2017
ScorecardHeino Kuhn made 80 before retiring in his warm-up for a Test debut•Getty Images

The South Africans enjoyed a productive outing at New Road, with four batsmen registering half-centuries as England Lions managed just three wickets on another shortened day.Heino Kuhn, who is expected to make his Test debut at Lord’s next week, and Hashim Amla retired in sight of hundreds, while Temba Bavuma was unbeaten on 85 when an early close arrived due to bad light. Quinton de Kock added a brisk 51 as the South Africans scored 324 from the 77.3 overs possible.George Garton added a second wicket, after Kuhn’s retirement, when he dismissed JP Duminy for 25 and Liam Plunkett dismissed Theunis de Bruyn – the potential deputy for Faf du Plessis if South Africa’s captain does not make at back in time after the birth of his child.De Kock then added 82 in less than 20 overs with Bavuma during the afternoon before before falling to the back-up seam of hid former U-19s team-mate Keaton Jennings.Kuhn, who won a call-up after making an unbeaten 200 in a pink-ball game against Hampshire and then a century against the Lions for South Africa A, continued his good form by scoring 80 off 126 balls before retiring.Amla was similarly assured, with 91 from 148, while Bavuma batted for more than three hours, putting on an unbroken 68 with Chris Morris to give South Africa a satisfying day ahead of the four-Test series, which starts on Thursday.

Lancashire are unlikely leaders of Division One after promotion last season but in a stop-start season they refuse to be cowed

Jon Culley at Trent Bridge05-Jul-2016
ScorecardStuart Broad clubbed useful runs•Getty Images

A persistent breeze stiffened enough from time to time to ask less hardy spectators to consider putting on a jacket but at least it was a day that looked like summer. On the field, Stuart Broad worked up a sweat, eager to show his county the commitment that comes naturally to him in Test cricket. But an increasingly benign pitch was giving him very little back.Steven Mullaney, captain against his former county in the absence of Chris Read, was proactive, rotating the bowlers, frequently tweaking his fields, trying to make something happen. Broad ran willingly to where he was directed, chipping in too with suggestions on tactics to try. Deep into the last session, though, Lancashire’s openers had their sights on batting through to the close, determined that their concentration would not crack.They look like a side who believe in themselves. Promoted teams tend these days to find the step up a difficult one but Lancashire have established themselves among the front-runners. It would be a surprise if they are in first place at the end of the season but their players are not easily cowed.Tom Smith, a solid professional in the best traditions of county cricket, turned 30 now and with the wisdom and experience to go with it, locked horns again with Imran Tahir, as he had in the first innings. After a protracted battle, the legspinner had the last word then but this time Smith, so far, has the upper hand.At the other end, moreover, he had an ally who already looks equally at home playing the long game. Haseeb Hameed is not yet 20 in years but temperamentally seems much older, at least with bat in hand. The pair have been Lancashire’s best opening partnership so far this year, the first to put 100 or more on the board.In doing so, they have probably saved this game for Lancashire, who trailed by 198 on first innings, a scenario that looked unlikely after Nottinghamshire had lost half their wickets while still 35 runs behind.Steven Croft, as willing and versatile as he is, is not a wicketkeeper and it is a demanding position from which also to captain a side. Whether he could have done much differently, though, is a moot point, given that of all the things Mullaney tried later, none achieved a breakthrough.It has been a different match for Neil Wagner, who took 11 wickets when Lancashire beat Nottinghamshire handsomely at Old Trafford in May. His reward for 33.1 overs of toil this time was 3-107.”It was hard out there, on an unresponsive and flat wicket,” he said. “I thought we bowled well, we asked questions and we bowled better than we did yesterday, when we did not hit our lengths consistently and got hurt.”We thought if we could get a couple of quick wickets this morning we might be in with a shout but credit to Nottinghamshire they batted very well. Riki and Samit batted really well, as did Broady and the others who came in after. They never really gave us a chance.”But it was a great partnership between Haseeb and Tom and although there is a lot of work to do yet hopefully we are in a good position now to save the game.”Patel and Wessels could not be parted for more than an hour, adding 43 to an overnight lead of 27 before Patel, who had been watchful for the most part, feathered the thinnest of edges to Croft off Smith, who dismissed Wessels soon afterwards. Looking to accelerate the pursuit of bowling points, Wessels went after Smith and picked up his ninth boundary but was undone by the next delivery, which pushed him on to the back foot and took the edge, Liam Livingstone backpeddling from slip to take the catch.Wessels had to leave the field with a finger injury later in the day, handing the wicketkeeping gloves to Brendan Taylor for a period, but was able to resume after treatment.The end of one significant partnership, one that was worth 105 runs, merely introduced another. Broad, who has given good value to his county with the bat as well as the ball this season, combined with Brett Hutton to add another 79 for the eighth wicket, 31 of which came within the space of 18 deliveries, 24 from Broad’s bat, to clinch maximum batting points for Nottinghamshire with just one ball to spare.In an innings notable for unconverted starts – nine players made between 30 and 67 – neither Broad nor Hutton reached 50 but the lead kept stretching. Even Harry Gurney, a genuine number 11, made it into double figures, for only the eighth time in 95 first-class innings.The win that Nottinghamshire need rather more urgently than their opponents seems unlikely, however, unless Tahir can do something remarkable on the final day.

Former internationals such as Brian Lara will play in the Masters Champions League (MCL), a franchise T20 tournament for retired cricketers set to take place in the UAE in February 2016

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jun-2015Former internationals such as Brian Lara will play in the Masters Champions League (MCL), a franchise T20 tournament for retired cricketers set to take place in the UAE in February 2016.The tournament will be made up of six teams in its first year, with a total of 90 players taking part – 15 members per squad. The players must all have been former international cricketers who are now retired from all forms of the professional sport.The MCL has received a 10-year approval from the Emirates Cricket Board, and inaugural matches of the tournament will take place over two weeks in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.”Our ultimate vision is for the MCL to become the natural next step for all international players retiring from the professional game to extend their careers in a masters league,” MCL chairman Zafar Shah said.Adam Gilchrist, Brian Lara, Wasim Akram, Ramiz Raja and Danny Morrison were present at the official launch of the tournament.

Shane Watson’s return to the Australian Test squad for Adelaide has ramped up pressure on David Warner to hold his spot at the top of the order

Daniel Brettig16-Nov-2012Shane Watson’s return to the Australian Test squad for Adelaide has ramped up pressure on David Warner to hold his spot at the top of the order, as the national selectors consider the possibility of pairing Rob Quiney with Ed Cowan.While Watson is still considered unlikely to return in time for the second Test against South Africa, it is far from certain that Quiney will be the man to drop out of the hosts’ XI to make room for the vice-captain and No. 3 batsman. Warner’s place in the team may hinge in his display in Adelaide, and another brief stay with the bat would be likely to have Quiney walking out to bat with Cowan in Perth.The national selector John Inverarity was unable to guarantee Warner’s place ahead of the Adelaide Test, in marked contrast to his supportive words for Cowan before the Brisbane Test squad was even announced. “We’ll make the decision closer to the time,” Inverarity said. “I mean we’re here at the WACA. Less than 12 months ago David played a wonderful innings here. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Australia Test squad

Michael Clarke (capt), Shane Watson, Ed Cowan, Ben Hilfenhaus, Michael Hussey, Nathan Lyon, James Pattinson, Ricky Ponting, Rob Quiney, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner

Quiney made only nine in his one innings in Brisbane, but impressed the selectors with his gully fielding, part-time medium pace and an unruffled, mature demeanour that fitted neatly into the Australian dressing room. His upright, powerful batting would make a neat balance with the more obdurate Cowan, while offering a little more restraint than Warner.Watson’s preferred place in the team remains as an allrounder. Inverarity explained that if Watson was not fit to bowl, he would more than likely also not be fit to run swiftly between the wickets or show the required level of agility in the field. This, as much as the team’s desire to have him bowling, will influence the selectors in their deliberations, which will likely reach a decision by Wednesday.”Yes he could [play as a batsman],” Inverarity said. “He’ll have to be fit to perform regarding running between the wickets, chasing in the field, diving. It’s unlikely – I’m not saying it’s not possible – but it’s unlikely that he’ll be able to build his workloads so that he’ll be able to bowl in the Test.”If you’ve got the continuum there, there’s only a small margin in which he’s fit to perform as a batsman but not able to bowl. We’re hoping he’ll be beyond that, he’ll be able to bowl. But he may not be able to. And if he’s not able to, there’s a fair chance he won’t be able to be fit to perform in terms of running between the wickets, chasing in the field, diving in the field. We’ll just wait and see.”Mitchell Starc’s chances of earning a place in the team for Adelaide have been enhanced by a four-wicket haul for New South Wales against Victoria at the SCG. Ben Hilfenhaus, the man considered most likely to make way for Starc, is working closely with the bowling coach Ali de Winter to try to eradicate the flaws picked up in his bowling action during the Gaba Test.”I thought the bowlers bowled much better the second day they bowled, and then on the final day I thought they all improved again,” Inverarity said. “So they’re running into some form and you need to get some bowling under your belt and I thought in particular Ben Hilfenhaus got better as the game went on, so we’ll just have to assess how they go and what sort of shape they’re in and make a decision a couple of days before the Test.”Inverarity indicated that whichever bowler was 12th man in Adelaide would then be a probable inclusion for the third Test in Perth, given that only three days separate the end of the second match with the start of the final one. Australia played four quicks and omitted the spinner Nathan Lyon for the Perth match against India last summer, and that possibility will depend on the preparation of the surface.”I think it’s very difficult to go Brisbane, Adelaide and then a break of just a couple of days and then to Perth for the same bowlers to do all of that,” Inverarity said. “It’s not unlikely that a different bowler will come in for that Test and you would recall that last time in Perth we played four fast bowlers and we’ll just have to wait and see what the wicket is like. The decision last year I think was the right decision and we’ll have to wait and see what happens this year.”