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The former Australia allrounder was one who made a success of moving up the order

Alex Malcolm03-Jan-20241:14

Cummins hails Warner as ‘Australia’s greatest three-format player’

Former Australia allrounder Shane Watson believes Cameron Green has all the tools to be successful as a Test opener and says previous experience at the top of the order isn’t required as Australia’s selectors continue to mull over their options to replace the retiring David Warner for the West Indies series starting in mid-January.Coach and selector Andrew McDonald first raised the prospect of Green coming in as Warner’s replacement in an interview on SEN back in November, although at that time he suggested that the order could be reshuffled with Marnus Labuschagne being pushed up to open and Green slotting into the middle-order. He specifically cited Watson and Simon Katich among others as successful Australian Test openers that started their careers down the order.Related

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But Usman Khawaja, who has become one of the most successful Test openers in history after starting his career in various middle-order positions, suggested Labuschagne should remain and No. 3 while Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh have both stated they would prefer to stay where they are, which has raised the prospect of Green opening the batting.”There’s no question in my mind he can [open],” Watson told ESPNcricinfo. “Australia needs to get Cameron Green into the team and the opportunity that you’ve got right now is for him to open. They’ll just have to manage his bowling, for sure, like with my bowling when I was opening the batting. But he absolutely has got the skill, the run-scoring ability and the understanding to be able to make the most of being an opening batter for sure. It might take him a game or two just to be able to work out exactly what his game plan is. But he’s definitely got the game and the mentality to make the most of it.”McDonald and captain Pat Cummins both confirmed last week that all options are on the table for Adelaide, including picking one of the best three Sheffield Shield openers in Cameron Bancroft, Marcus Harris and Matt Renshaw. But both said they are not against picking someone without first-class opening experience for the role if he is in the best six batters.Shane Watson and Simon Katich both moved to the top of the order•Getty Images

Picking Green to open would be a left-field option given he has never batted higher than No. 6 in his 36 Test innings and has never opened in first-class cricket, although he has opened in T20Is for Australia. But it also might be the least disruptive option for the selectors to get him into the Test team given the settled nature of the middle order.Watson went through the same experience in the 2009 Ashes where his only avenue back into the Test team was to open. He did it with great success, playing the best cricket of his Test career over the next two years, averaging 43.67 in that period and passing 50 in 17 of 45 innings, with two Test hundreds.He did not believe prior experience opening the batting in first-class cricket was a pre-requisite for the job as he had hardly opened before doing it at Test level, although he had been very successful opening the batting in ODI cricket. Watson cited his former opening partner Katich and Khawaja as examples of how middle-order players can adapt to the role. They are two of only five Australian openers in Test history to have averaged more than 50 with more than 2000 runs.”If you’re scoring runs even slightly lower down the order, you’re facing new balls at times whether you come in early or facing a second new ball, so you’re very well equipped to be able to deal with a brand new ball opening the batting,” Watson said. “We have seen it a number of times. Uzzy and Simon Katich are great examples.”It just comes down to what the game plan is and then having the right mindset to be able to capitalise on the technical skills that you do have. I certainly didn’t serve an apprenticeship in Shield cricket opening the batting but it suited me down to the ground when I got the opportunity to do it Test cricket, just with my technique but also with my mindset that was created because of it.”Watson wrote in detail about the mental battles he had during his professional career in his book, , where he said that opening had put him in the best mindset of his international career.”I started to bat in a way that I only ever dreamed of and this was all because I had no fear from ball one,” he wrote. “I let go of all of that care and pressure that I had been putting on myself and just took the bowlers on from ball one in every format that I was batting in.”The way back in: could Cameron Green be the surprise choice as next opener?•Associated Press

Green himself has suffered with nerves and has struggled with waiting for long periods batting down the order, having been a top-order player as a junior and having had most of his Shield success batting at No. 4. Watson felt his move to the top of the order completely changed his mentality.”For me, it just gave me no time to think,” he added. “As soon as the last wicket went down then it was, get my pads on and get out there. Whereas when I was batting at No. 6, there was so much time to overthink things. Opening, I felt like I had nothing to lose. It really freed up my whole game just to be able to stand there and react with intent.”Several middle-order batters have been successful in moving to the top of the order in Test cricket, but Watson is one of the very few pace-bowling allrounders in the history of the game to have opened the batting regularly in Test cricket with success. In the 25 Tests where he opened, Watson averaged 41.05 with the bat and 27.90 with the ball.Watson said Green’s bowling loads would need to be managed carefully by Cummins as Ricky Ponting had done with him. “It did reduce the number of overs that I bowled during a Test match at times,” he said. “But I would still bowl around 10 overs per day. But he would do everything he could for me not to bowl when we were trying to get the last couple of batters out, just to give me the chance to not be overly fatigued going into opening the batting.”

Duleep Trophy returns after a three-year hiatus, to run from September 8, as the domestic season opener

Shashank Kishore08-Aug-2022In a move aimed at improving the quality of its first-class competition, the BCCI has decided to split the Ranji Trophy into two categories: Elite and Plate. The tournament is set to run from December 13, 2022, to February 20, 2023, following the conclusion of the white-ball events.Unlike earlier, where all 38 teams would compete for the same trophy, the 2022-23 domestic season will consist of two Ranji Trophy winners.This is to minimise the prospect of mismatches at the knockouts, like we saw earlier this year when Jharkhand amassed a lead of 1008 – the highest-ever in first-class history – over Plate toppers Nagaland in the pre-quarterfinals.Related

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As per the new format, 32 Elite teams will be divided into four groups of eight, with the top two from each group qualifying for the quarterfinals. This gives each team at least seven matches in the league phase.In the Plate competition, six teams will play each other once, with the top four making it through to the knockouts. The bottom two teams will feature in a playoff for the fifth and sixth positions.Unlike currently, the topper of the Plate group will not cross over to play an Elite team in a pre-quarterfinal, given they will be competing in a tournament of their own.The two Plate finalists will be promoted to the Elite group for the 2023-24 season, while the bottom two teams of all the four Elite groups combined – factoring in both points and quotient – will be relegated. The return of Duleep Trophy & Irani Cup
The Duleep Trophy has been reintroduced after a three-season gap and will revert to its original format of being a zonal competition. This time, the addition of a new zone from the North-East – along with North, South, East, West and Central – will make it a six-team knockout competition that will kick off the senior men’s domestic calendar from September 8-25.That will be followed by the Irani Cup match between 2021-22 Ranji Trophy champions Madhya Pradesh and a Rest of India squad picked by the national selectors on October 1. The Irani Cup was last played in 2018-19 when Vidarbha beat Rest of India on the basis of a first-innings lead.The white-ball leg
The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, India’s domestic T20 competition, will be held from October 11-November 5, running mostly alongside the T20 World Cup. While it may not help players make a case to be included in the national team, it will remain a platform for them to impress IPL talent scouts. This T20 competition will be followed by the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy.Unlike in the Ranji Trophy where teams will vie for two separate trophies, the white-ball tournaments will not feature a separate Plate division, with the newer domestic teams sprinkled across five different groups based on pre-tournament seedings.The women’s calendar, which generally stretches into April, will now finish in February with the BCCI set to use their March-April window for the Women’s IPL•BCCI

What is in it for women’s cricket?
Quite a lot, which is a great sign given the interest around the sport has heightened following their silver-medal finish at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. For the first time since BCCI took over the running of women’s cricket in 2006, they will be staging an Under-16 tournament for girls. This is a significant step towards identifying a talent pool they can groom for the Women’s Under-19 World Cup. The inaugural edition of this tournament, which has had to be pushed back twice due to the Covid-19 pandemic, will be played in the T20 format in January 2023 in South Africa.Equally significant is the reintroduction of the women’s zonal competition – in both T20 and 50-over format – for the seniors after five years. Then, there is also a T20 and 50-over competition for the Under-23s to ensure players who miss the bus at the Under-19s have another level to aim for.When does the women’s season begin?
With the Women’s T20 World Cup set to be staged in South Africa in February next year, the season begins with the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy from October 11-November 5. This will be followed by the Inter-zonal T20s and a Challenger Trophy, all aimed at increasing match-time for the players, which will then give selectors an opportunity to widen their choices before picking their World Cup squad.The women’s calendar, which generally stretches well into April, will now finish in February with the BCCI set to use their March-April window for the inaugural Women’s IPL, the plans for which are underway according to Sourav Ganguly. The BCCI is contemplating a five or six-team tournament, to begin with, and the matter will be discussed at the BCCI AGM in September.

Cricket operations chairman Akram Khan makes claim after Shakib hits out at criticism

Mohammad Isam21-Mar-2021The BCB may reconsider the No-Objection Certificate (NOC) for Shakib Al Hasan to play in this year’s IPL, according to Akram Khan, the board’s cricket operations chairman. The news comes less than 24 hours after Shakib had accused the BCB, and particularly Khan, of misrepresenting him about his decision to skip the Tests against Sri Lanka.Khan, who spoke shortly after a meeting at the BCB president Nazmul Hassan’s residence in Dhaka, said that discussions about Shakib’s NOC will be held in the next couple of days, after Shakib had said in an interview on Friday that he never wrote in his letter to the BCB that he didn’t want to play Tests.”I heard that he said that I didn’t read his letter,” Khan said. “Perhaps I misunderstood his letter. He wants to play Tests, from what he has said. In the next couple of days we will discuss about his NOC. If he has interest, he will play Tests in Sri Lanka. We will decide about the rest after hearing the whole interview.”Khan confirmed that he read Shakib’s letter where it was mentioned that he wanted to skip the Sri Lanka series to play in the IPL. “Shakib wrote in the letter that he wants to play the IPL instead of the Test series in Sri Lanka,” he said.Shakib said on Friday that Khan has continued to mention his desire not to play the Test series even though he wrote to the board that he wants to play in the IPL – where he has an Rs 3.2 crore ($438,000 approx) contract with Kolkata Knight Riders – to prepare for the upcoming T20 World Cup.Related

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“Those who keep saying that I don’t want to play Tests, I am sure they didn’t read my letter,” he said. “I didn’t mention anywhere in my letter to the BCB that I don’t want to play Tests. I wrote that I want to play the IPL to prepare myself for the World Cup.”Akram especially has repeatedly said that I don’t want to play Tests. I think he said it again in an interview yesterday. I guess he never read the letter. People should have a clear idea that I wanted to play the IPL even if ODIs were scheduled during this time.”I want to take advantage of playing in the same grounds and against the same players who I will face in the World Cup T20 four months later. I can share the same experience with my Bangladesh team-mates,” Shakib said.Shakib also pointed the finger at the former cricketers who are in the BCB currently, and said that the BCB’s player development process, particularly the high performance programme, hasn’t produced enough good cricketers in the last five years.Naimur Rahman, the high performance programme’s chairman and a former Bangladesh captain, said that Shakib’s comments were surprising.”In the last five years, a number of our Under-19 cricketers have come through the HP to play for the senior team,” Rahman said. “They recently beat Ireland Wolves. So this is a surprising comment. I don’t know if there’s anything behind it.”Rahman added that Shakib’s point about respecting Bangladeshi cricketers was contradictory as he himself isn’t respecting the former cricketers in the board. “He also spoke about respecting players, so did he respect the former cricketers in the board?” he said.

The only bright spot for Afghanistan was debutant Amir Hamza, who ended with figures of 5 for 74

The Report by Hemant Brar28-Nov-2019Shamarh Brooks’ maiden Test century and Rahkeem Cornwall’s match haul of ten wickets took West Indies to the doorstep of victory by the end of day two of the one-off Test in Lucknow.After starting the day on 68 for 2, West Indies were bowled out for 277, with Brooks’ 111 giving them a lead of 90. The only bright spot for Afghanistan was debutant Amir Hamza, who ended with figures of 5 for 74. Then, just like in their first innings, the hosts squandered another good start and were stuttering at 109 for 7 at stumps, just 19 runs in front.Javed Ahmadi and Ibrahim Zadran gave Afghanistan a 53-run start. While both batsmen looked resolute in their approach, Ahmadi was helped by a slice of luck as well when he was caught at leg slip but replays showed Cornwall had overstepped.However, an error in judgement from Zadran brought an end to the stand as the batsman offered no shot to a Cornwall offbreak and was given lbw. That was followed by a horrendous mix-up between Ahmadi and Ihsanullah, resulting in the latter being run out.Cornwall then dealt two big blows, dismissing Rahmat Shah and Asghar Afghan in identical manner. Both of them got inside edges on to their pads, and Brooks pouched the chances at short leg. Having picked up 7 for 75 in the first innings, the offspinner finished the day with a match haul of 10 for 116.Ahmadi brought up his fifty in the company of Nasir Jamal, and took Afghanistan to 96 for 5, but three quick strikes from Roston Chase under the floodlights dented them further. Jamal played down the wrong line and was bowled, while Hamza, the nightwatchman, and Ahmadi were taken at first slip.Earlier, Brooks showcased excellent mix of attack and defence against the Afghanistan spinners, who tried too hard for wickets at most times. Rashid Khan had a couple of strong lbw appeals turned down and that added to their frustration. However, in the absence of DRS for the game, there was no choice but to accept the on-field decisions.Rahkeem Cornwall celebrates a wicket with captain Jason Holder•Getty Images

While Afghanistan did make inroads and one wicket invariably brought another, Brooks stayed firm. After counter-attacking for the first half of his innings, he assumed a more measured approach after lunch but didn’t miss out on the loose deliveries. Rashid, in particular, was at the receiving end as Brooks took 69 off 108 balls from the legspinner.In all, Brooks struck 15 fours and a six before being bowled by Hamza while looking for quick runs with his side eight wickets down.John Campbell, the other overnight batsman, took to attack straightaway. The strategy paid off as he deployed a variety of sweeps – slog, lap, reverse – to counter the left-arm spin of Hamza and took 15 from the bowler’s second over of the day. He brought up his maiden Test fifty with a single to deep square-leg, courtesy a conventional sweep.Brooks was more orthodox at the other end but no less attacking. In one Rashid over, he struck two fours and a six as West Indies went past 100. Campbell and he added 82 in just 19.1 overs before Hamza broke the stand with Campbell’s wicket for 55, scored in 75 balls. But it was as much Ihsanullah’s wicket too, as the slip fielder moved swiftly to his right upon seeing Campbell shaping up for a lap sweep, put in the dive and completed the catch one-handed.Shimron Hetmyer and Chase didn’t last long and at 150 for 5, it looked like Afghanistan had clawed their way back. But Shane Dowrich thwarted their hopes. Like the batsmen before him, Dowrich too started aggressively, hitting three fours in no time to move to 15 in as many balls. It wasn’t that the Afghanistan spinners didn’t create any chances. Apart from the lbw shouts, Rashid got Brooks to edge one behind but Afsar Zazai dropped the catch. The batsman was on 59 at that time.Brooks and Dowrich added 74 for the sixth wicket and took the side into the lead. But once Zahir Khan got Dowrich lbw, the rest of the batting didn’t last long. Hamza picked up three of the remaining four wickets, while Cornwall was wrongly given out lbw off Rashid, with the ball brushing the inside edge on its way to the pads.

The Bangladesh allrounder is currently recovering from a long-standing finger injury, which got worse due to an infection during the Asia Cup

Mohammad Isam31-Oct-2018The BCB has granted Shakib Al Hasan an NOC to participate in the UAE T20x tournament, meaning he will join the likes of Steven Smith, who is currently into the seventh month of a one-year ban handed to him by Cricket Australia for his part in the Newlands ball-tampering incident, Andre Russell and Shahid Afridi.Shakib, who is recovering from injury, is set to play in the tournament from December 23, a day after the end of West Indies’ tour of Bangladesh, to January 1 next year. The UAE T20x league runs from December 19 to January 11, clashing with the Bangladesh Premier League.Shakib is currently undergoing rehab for a long-standing finger injury, which got worse due to an infection during the Asia Cup. He underwent an emergency operation in Dhaka before heading to Australia for a further check-up. He came back to Bangladesh earlier this month and said that his return to competitive cricket depended largely on how quickly the infection was completely removed, suggesting he may be back for Bangladesh’s home series against West Indies, which begins with the first Test from November 22.”The physio and I have decided not to put a time frame for my return,” he said. “Possibly I will start training shortly. I have to start strength training from next week. When I will start improving gradually, and I will see that I don’t have problems in playing, I can think of returning to action. Until then, I wouldn’t want to return, neither the physio will let me.”Shakib said that the UAE stint could give him some match practice in his comeback bid. “It will be good preparation for me if I can be fit for these matches,” he said. I need these matches to get back from a major injury and into full rhythm.”GMT 10.30 The story had earlier erroneously stated that the UAE T20x league runs from December 23 to January 1.The error has been rectified.

The club’s T20 captain has returned home to New Zealand and a decision is yet to be taken over his availability for the quarter-finals

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Aug-2017Sussex Sharks have lost their captain Ross Taylor, who has had to return home to New Zealand due to family reasons.Taylor had led the team in all 13 of their games in the NatWest T20 Blast this season, securing four wins and fourth place in the South Group points table. If they slip any lower they will lose out on the race to the quarter-finals.Wicketkeeper Ben Brown, who captains the Championship side, will take the reins for their one remaining game in the group stage, against Essex at Hove on Friday night.”It’s a blow to us to lose Ross,” Sussex head coach Mark Davis said. “However, that gives somebody else an opportunity to represent the club in a very important game on Friday night. We wish Ross and his family all the best”Taylor, who had been in Hove in 2016 as well, has not been in the best form this season though with only 177 runs from 12 innings at an average of 19 and a strike-rate of 112.A press release from the club said, “a decision has not yet been taken on whether Ross will return should the side qualify for next week’s Blast quarter-finals”.

SLC and Muttiah Muralitharan have traded caustic verbal blows following an altercation between Murali and the Sri Lanka team manager over Murali’s consulting role with the Australia side

Andrew Fidel Fernando25-Jul-2016Sri Lanka Cricket and Muttiah Muralitharan have traded caustic verbal blows following an altercation between Murali and the Sri Lanka team manager. SLC has made a formal complaint to Cricket Australia over the altercation, and has also contended Murali had conducted centre-wicket training at the Pallekele ground without permission.With consternation about Murali’s role as spin-bowling consultant with Australia already high at SLC, a rumour began to circulate that Murali had influenced the preparation of a turning pitch at the P Sara Oval for Australia’s practice match last week. Having represented Tamil Union Cricket Club for much of his career, the P Sara Oval was effectively Murali’s home ground. It is a venue where he commands substantial respect.Sri Lanka would have preferred Australia to play their practice match on a seaming deck at odds with the surfaces that would be prepared for the Tests. Yet, Australia spinners Steve O’Keefe and Nathan Lyon shared 12 scalps in that game, on a surface that had begun to take significant turn by day three.Having caught wind of the suggestion that he was responsible for the nature of that pitch, Murali said he confronted Charith Senanayake, whom he believed to be the source of the accusation. Murali denies having had any influence over the preparation of the P Sara pitch. Senanayake denies having sparked the rumour.”Charith has accused [me] and told the media that I have cut the grass on the pitch to help Australia’s spin bowlers to take the wickets in the three-day game. That’s a lie,” Murali said. “When I met him I asked him: ‘We played together and respected each other, why are you telling lies?’, he told me that they have just made an inquiry.”The Tamil Union wicket was made at the time by Janaka Sampath, who is the SLC board curator. They should clarify from him what actually happened, rather than going on rumour.”Tempers are understood to have spilled over during the exchange. SLC was eventually notified, and on Monday, its president Thilanga Sumathipala said the board was “deeply disappointed” by Murali’s actions and had lodged a complaint with CA.”There are two problems here,” Sumathipala said. “The first is that Charith Senanayake has made a complaint that he had been berated. The second is that a certain training session for the Australia players at Pallekele had been carried out without permission.”We’re very disappointed because Murali is a player the board spent a lot of effort saving. We saved him three times. From a professional standpoint, there is no problem with him working with the Australian team. But the issue here is an ethical one. We’ve named the trophy the Murali-Warne Trophy.”And I remember once when we went to Kandy with Murali, he was on a truck and there was so much support for him that it took four hours for him to get home. Kandy is his hometown, and he’s now had to coach an opposition team at Pallekele. Regardless of professionalism, we’re very hurt by this.”SLC vice-president Mohan de Silva attempted to calm tensions, stating the board had not lost respect for Murali, but others within the cricket establishment had continued to express their dismay. When Sri Lanka’s sports minister also expressed “disappointment” over him taking the Australia job, Murali reacted by admonishing the board for casting aspersions upon his “ethics”, and drew attention to his substantial body of humanitarian work.”About two years ago, the board headed by Nishantha Ranatunga asked me to do some work with the spinners and I said yes, and I went and worked with the Sri Lankan spinners for 10 or 15 days,” Murali said. “Since then no Sri Lankan board has asked me to do any job. If they had asked me before the [Australia] series to be a consultant, I would have said yes. They didn’t want me, and someone else wanted me. How could I be a traitor to this country? Australia asked me to coach for the entire series, but I told them I can only do 10 days because I don’t want to be in the opposition dressing room during the match in Sri Lanka, that’s not ethical.”Sri Lankan people have done a lot for me, and I think I have done a lot for them as well. Along with a friend I’ve opened the Foundation of Goodness, where every year we help 50,000 families. We built 1000 houses after the tsunami. Cricket-wise, through the foundation, we made about 30-40 wickets in the Northern and Eastern provinces. We hold an annual reconciliation tournament. We do more than what Sri Lanka Cricket does, with our own funds.”Murali said Sri Lankans pursuing coaching opportunities with other countries was a result of their being unfairly treated by the SLC.”These people who are accusing me should go and look in the mirror [and compare] what they are doing to the country and what I am doing. The other fundamental wrong is that when our players become brilliant coaches, the board chases them off. I’m talking about Chandika Hathurusingha, Chaminda Vaas, Marvan Atapattu, Mario Villavarayan, and Thilan Samaraweera, who went to Australia. These people are all working in different countries where they are valued more than they are here.”What we do is bring all the top coaches from abroad when we already have the talent. We are not using it. Am I the traitor or are they the traitors? When they pay also – the foreign coaches are paid so much more than the Sri Lankan coaches.”Murali was also incensed by how much had been made of his association with Australia in particular, a role which he felt offered personal vindication given his travails in Australia during his career. He had initially worked with the Australia spinners during a series in the UAE in 2014, before being approached again ahead of this series.”I know in ’95 and ’96 I had problems against Australia, and the whole of Sri Lanka backed me. I thought that when Australia asked me to coach, that’s them saying that I don’t do anything wrong – that I am correct and they were wrong at the time. That’s their proving it by asking me to train their spinners.”Does SLC think that just because I coach Australia for 10 days, Australia will win? If that’s the case I am the best coach in the world, and Sri Lanka should hire me every time, and we will win every time.”Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara tweeted in support of Murali on Monday evening. “Murali is a great son of Sri Lanka and he doesn’t have to defend himself. He loves his country,” Sangakkara wrote. “He is free to consult or coach anyone. If SLC had ever asked him to coach Sri Lanka, he always will. His consultancy with anyone is a way he can give back to the game.”He has given his best to his country on the field and off. He is always available for his country, all they have to do is ask. We [should be] proud of him. If any Sri Lankan spinner walks up to [Murali] and asks him about bowling, he will be the first to spend as much time as needed to help. Free.”

A brilliantly unorthodox 96 from Sarfraz Ahmed and a seventh Test century from Asad Shafiq turned the Galle Test around on a fourth day that exposed Sri Lanka’s bowling limitations

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy20-Jun-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details0:45

Pakistan on top after day four

A brilliantly unorthodox 96 from Sarfraz Ahmed and a seventh Test century from Asad Shafiq turned the Galle Test around on a fourth day that exposed Sri Lanka’s bowling limitations. Having been five down and 182 behind at the start of the fourth morning, Pakistan were bowled out 45 minutes into the final session, having taken a 117-run lead. Their bowlers then struck twice to leave Sri Lanka a tricky job to get through the final day unscathed.Sri Lanka’s openers saw out eight tight overs from Pakistan’s new-ball pair before Wahab Riaz struck the first blow, angling one across at three-quarters pace and inducing Kaushal Silva to stretch out for a drive and edge to third slip. Dimuth Karunaratne and Kumar Sangakkara played vigilantly for the next eleven overs, and looked secure enough to confirm that the pitch, rather than deteriorating, had slowed down a touch. But the bowling was always probing, and the wicket-taking ball was always around the corner. Yasir Shah produced it, getting extra bounce to get Sangakkara to pop one to short leg off the glove as he stretched forward to defend. At stumps, Karunaratne was batting on 36 with the nightwatchman Dilruwan Perera for company.Sarfaraz struck 13 fours in his 86-ball blitz; the lofted drive that took Shafiq from 96 to 100 was only his fourth. Their contrasting methods proved equally effective during their 139-run stand, and showed why they have already become Pakistan’s most successful sixth-wicket pair. Shafiq’s defence was impeccable, and he minimised Sri Lanka’s hopes of inroads at his end even when Sarfraz was blazing away at the other.Shafiq didn’t change his game too much while batting with the lower order; he simply took the singles on offer against the well-spread fields and let his partners do the bulk of the scoring. Shafiq scored 51 runs in the post-lunch session; between them, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah and Zulfiqar Babar made 88, profiting from some tired, unimaginative Sri Lankan bowling.The seamers bounced the lower-order batsmen, and while there was one moment of acute discomfort – Dhammika Prasad smacking the back of Yasir Shah’s helmet while he took his eyes off the ball – the tactic also leaked runs. Yasir pulled hooked to the square leg boundary, and Zulfiqar backed away from his stumps to shovel the short ball over midwicket and mid-on or carve the ball square on the off side. Zulfiqar grew in confidence as he spent more time at the crease, and soon brought up his maiden Test fifty by launching the offspinner Dilruwan over long on.By the time Shafiq was stumped running out of his crease to Dilruwan, the last four wickets had stretched Pakistan’s score by 182 runs. But they couldn’t have done it without Sarfraz, who dramatically altered the state of the game with his thrilling attack in the morning session.Last year, Sarfraz was the only Pakistan batsman who got on top of Rangana Herath during their tour of Sri Lanka. Where his team-mates were consumed by the thought of survival, he was constantly looking for runs, and challenging him with his unorthodoxy, often taking guard outside leg stump.He made three fifties and a hundred in the two Tests, and the confidence from all those runs was apparent right from the third over of the morning, when he took a big stride forward to sweep Herath to the backward square leg boundary and followed it up with nimble footwork two balls later to get down the track and inside the line to drive inside-out through extra cover.Sarfraz had a unique and effective response to all of Sri Lanka’s bowlers. He stood outside leg stump when the offspinner Dilruwan Perera bowled from around the wicket and took an off-stump guard when he bowled from over the wicket, enabling him to get to the pitch of the ball easier when he tossed it up wide of off stump.Against the fast bowlers, who hinted at reverse swing in the first hour, he took guard outside his crease – sometimes six inches outside, sometimes so far ahead of it that his feet may have straddled a second crease twice the distance from the stumps. From this position he clipped Dhammika Prasad against the around-the-wicket angle, and then used the pace to dab the ball to the third man boundary when he changed angle and dug it in short.The scoring was rapid, comfortably over four an over even though Shafiq relied almost entirely on his defence at the other end. Sarfraz was on 15 and Shafiq on 14 when the day began. When Shafiq struck his first boundary of the day – a rasping square-cut off Nuwan Pradeep in the ninth over of the morning – he moved to 23. Sarfraz by that time had waltzed past 50.Both batsmen looked entirely secure in their methods, and Sri Lanka’s bowling – as cause or consequence – seemed to lack bite. Sri Lanka’s tactics were also a touch puzzling, particularly their use of their main weapon. Herath went out of the attack after only one full over (and the remainder of the third evening’s incomplete final over), and by the time he returned, both batsmen were comfortably set, and the deficit had been cut down to 116.The same method that had brought Sarfraz his runs also led to his downfall when he was within reach of his fourth Test hundred. Prasad sent down a full ball outside off and Sarfraz stretched out to try and sweep him. It would have been breathtakingly audacious had it come off, but he only managed to drag the ball off his inside edge onto off stump.

Australia’s batting coach Stuart Law spoke of his desire to return to the nation’s batsmen the sort of collective “ruthless streak” that limited him to one Test in a career that ultimately reaped more than 27,000 first-class runs

Daniel Brettig20-Dec-2012As he set about the task of throttling back Usman Khawaja from Twenty20 to Test matches, Australia’s batting coach Stuart Law spoke of his desire to return to the nation’s batsmen the sort of collective “ruthless streak” that limited him to one Test in a career that ultimately reaped more than 27,000 first-class runs.Law had the help of Ryan Harris, recuperating from shoulder surgery, plus Ben Cutting and Nathan Hauritz to bowl to Khawaja at Allan Border Field, while time was also reserved for the Pro-Batter technology that allowed the left-hander to face up to a bowling machine synchronised with video footage of Sri Lanka’s pacemen and spinners.He defended Cricket Australia’s decision to pull Khawaja and the rest of the Test squad out of the BBL, and spoke with the passion of an unfulfilled international batting talent of the opportunities afforded to batsmen by the retirement of Ricky Ponting, who he debuted with in Perth in 1995.”We’re trying to get a ruthless streak back into our batters that we had going through domestic cricket 20-25 years ago,” Law said. “If we can get that back where players aren’t just scoring 60s and expecting the next step to happen, but they’re scoring 100s, 150s and doing it consistently, not just once or twice but three, four times, that will put their names up in lights.”What an opportunity now? Ricky Ponting, one of Australia’s greatest has retired, you’ve got an opportunity to take over his position – you’d cut your own leg off to have that opportunity, and you want to be doing everything you possibly can to get it. I know Big Bash is a big part of the Australian cricket calendar now, but we’re in the middle of a Test series.”We just got beaten by South Africa, we’ve gone 1-0 up, we want to put everything into winning this next Test match so we can take a series. That’s our whole objective. If that means sacrificing a few players who don’t play in the Big Bash, there’s more games after this Test series to be involved in and surely we’re all for the greater good of Australian cricket – the Test team is the No. 1 team to play for.”Khawaja’s time in Brisbane is geared more towards getting his batting rhythms and routines more right for Tests, after last summer’s disastrous India series for Shaun Marsh, who came back into the national team via the BBL. Marsh made an audacious 99 for the Perth Scorchers in Melbourne, then cobbled a measly 17 runs in six innings against MS Dhoni’s team, a contribution so meagre that it has probably ended his Test career. Law noted that if anything Khawaja’s international shortcomings so far have been more as a fielder, runner and athlete than as a batsman, but that he would benefit from deliberate time to adjust.”He’s one of the better batsmen technically going around, he’s very sound, [but] there’s other things these days to playing cricket,” Law said. “You’ve got to be able to do more than one skill. If you’re not bowling you’ve got to be able to field, and that was pointed out to Usman a while ago that he has to improve in certain areas, as well as going back and scoring runs.”He didn’t really have a problem with his batting, he didn’t get the big scores that would have kept him in the side. Usman’s joined the Australian team for the Boxing Day Test, so we’ve got to get him prepared as best as possible for that to take place. To get him out of Twenty20 mode and back into Test mode is pretty important.”Australia’s team performance manger Pat Howard, meanwhile, has spoken of how fervently CA are seeking ways of reducing the chances of the national team going a man down in mid-Test match. The loss of James Pattinson in Adelaide arguably cost Michael Clarke’s team the chance to defeat South Africa, while injuries to Ben Hilfenhaus and Clarke very nearly did the same against Sri Lanka in Hobart.”Absolutely the reality is the current situation’s not good enough,” Howard said of the injury toll. “We want to be better than that, and I’m really disappointed with where we’re at the moment. I’m not shying away from that, and we’re making sure that any issues we’ve seen come up have been raised. We need to be better.”

The families of the three players react with sadness and defiance to their sentencing

Umar Farooq03-Nov-2011The night before he was sentenced to six months in a juvenile correctional institute, Mohammed Amir called his family from England and asked them to pray for him. Amir’s brother Saleem told the media gathered outside the house that they hoped the sentence would not involve jail time. The phone call from their brother, though, had become an intimation of what was about to happen in less than 24 hours. “The entire family prayed all night,” Saleem said, “trying not to think the worst thoughts.”Amir and Butt’s families spent all day watching the news on television. Once the verdict was announced Amir’s father broke down outside the family bungalow in Lahore’s Defence neighbourhood and was unable to speak. Amir’s brother Saleem consoled him and called on the Pakistani government to help in the case. “Amir is a kid, he can’t understand things. These six months are a lot for an immature kid.” Amir’s mother was not in Lahore at the time of the sentencing but in the family’s old home in Gujjar Khan near Rawalpindi. Amir’s sister said he had spoken to the family before being sentenced to six months in Feltham Young Offenders’ Institute.Salman Butt’s family, which should have been celebrating the birth of his second child, responded angrily to his two-and-a half year sentence. Butt’s businessman father Zulfiqar said he would soon be calling a press conference to “reveal” some hidden facts. “A lot of things have remained secret … My son is innocent,” he said. “Our own friends conspired against us.” Zulfiqar did not identify these friends or explain the conspiracy but added that the Butt family was not wealthy. “You can check our bank balance. We weren’t even able to build our own house.”Butt’s two sisters Khadija and Rubab spoke to reporters outside their home in the fairly comfortable Johar Town area, about 10kms south-west of the Gaddafi Stadium. Khadija said: “We know our brother is innocent and we firmly believe that. Right from the start, and through the past 14 months, he didn’t make one deviation from his first statement.” She said the family was not able to speak to Butt before he was led away to holding cells under the Southwark Crown Court and on to Wandsworth prison. “We know Salman has been praying all night yesterday. His mistake was to be at the wrong place with the wrong people. This is his only mistake.” Rubab’s wedding has now been postponed.Mohammed Asif’s family is still based in his hometown of Sheikhupura, north of Lahore. His father, Hasan Deen, a dairy farmer, had spoken to reporters after Tuesday’s verdict. When asked about the possibility of a jail sentence for his son, Hasan Deen said: “It is human beings after all who go to jail. He hasn’t committed a murder. We haven’t made any great money from cricket. I know Asif will return home one day.”