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The in-form David Willey produced another breathtaking innings on the second day of promotion-chasing Northamptonshire’s match against Glamorgan.

29-Aug-2013
ScorecardDavid Willey took his T20 batting form into the Championship with a blistering 81•Getty Images

The in-form David Willey produced another breathtaking innings on the second day of promotion-chasing Northamptonshire’s match against Glamorgan.Willey followed up his century against Warwickshire in the Yorkshire Bank 40 three days ago with a stunning 81 – his highest first-class total – off just 73 balls, including six huge sixes. It helped Northamptonshire build a big first-innings lead as they were eventually bowled out for 453, 212 runs ahead of Glamorgan’s total, with Andrew Hall hammering 91 not out off 134 deliveries and Mike Reed taking 4 for 109.The hosts began the day on 85 without loss, 156 runs behind their opponents, with their captain Stephen Peters resuming on 39 and James Middlebrook on 38. It did not take long for Peters to reach 50 off 80 balls in the third over of the day but he was to perish on 61 when he edged Reed to Jim Allenby at first slip to break the opening stand on 115.Middlebrook then completed his half-century off 73 deliveries, but he departed for 59 when he sliced a loose drive off Reed to Glamorgan captain and wicketkeeper Mark Wallace.Alex Wakely threw his wicket away on 36 when he gave Gareth Rees an easy catch at mid-on and gift Reed a third wicket before Dean Cosker removed Ben Duckett when he was taken by Wallace. Glamorgan’s fightback continued as Andrew Salter’s terrific delivery clipped David Sales’ off stump to dismiss him for 48 before Steven Crook nudged the very next ball to Wallace.But Willey reinforced his side’s innings with a spectacular half-century off just 51 balls as Northamptonshire reached tea on 309 for six. He and Hall went on to set a new record seventh-wicket partnership for the county against Glamorgan, surpassing the 105 made between William Denton and Benjamin Bellamy at Swansea in 1922.Willey went past his previous first-class best of 77 – made against Leicestershire in May – before he tentatively edged Wagg to Allenby at first slip to end the partnership on 115. Hall then became the fourth Northamptonshire batsman to go past 50, off 85 balls, as the relentless hosts claimed a full set of batting bonus points with 13 overs to spare.Reed then took out Trent Copeland’s off stump after the Australian had bludgeoned 34 before Northamptonshire wicketkeeper David Murphy feathered Allenby to Wallace. Cosker was to end the hosts’ innings – and the day’s proceedings – when he trapped Muhammad Azharullah lbw for 2.

“I think through the middle overs we need to probably improve our wicket-taking options”

Hemant Brar24-Jan-20224:33

Dravid: ‘We played some poor shots while chasing’

For India coach Rahul Dravid, the ODI series against South Africa was an “eye-opener”. India lost the series 3-0 and Dravid felt it was “poor shots” that cost them the first and the third match.In both those games, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli kept India’s chase on track but neither batter could convert their half-centuries into a big knock. Once Dhawan and Kohli got out, the middle and lower-middle order, in the absence of Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja, failed to finish the job.Related

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In ODIs, India prefer a safety-first approach while batting. When asked if they should change that template, Dravid said, “We certainly could do better in the middle overs. We understand the template, and a large part of that template is dependent on the balance of your squad. Some of the guys who really help us balance out the squad and give us those all-round options at No. 6, 7 and 8 were not available for the selection. Hopefully, when they come back, it will give us a little more depth, which will allow us to play in a slightly different style.”Having said that, even South Africa who batted first on two occasions scored 290 [296] and 280 [287]. If I think back to the 30th over [of the second innings] in both these games, we should have actually chased them down. We didn’t because we played some poor shots and we didn’t play smart cricket at critical situations.”During the series, the Indian spinners were outbowled by their South African counterparts. While Dravid didn’t single out the spinners, he did say taking wickets in middle overs was something the team needed to work on. India tried something different on that front in the third ODI: their seamers hit the deck more often than they had done in the first two outings and fetched slightly better returns.”I think through the middle overs we need to probably improve our wicket-taking options,” Dravid said. “Spinners do play a big role in that but also with the quicks coming back and the kinds of balls we bowl, we have discussed that. We do understand that’s an area in the game we have been behind a little bit – the ability to take wickets through the middle overs – and what we need to do about that.”Before the series, stand-in captain KL Rahul had said the team was looking at Venkatesh Iyer as their sixth bowling option. However, Iyer wasn’t given an over in the first ODI, though he did bowl five in the second before being left out for the last one.”When you are a sixth bowler in the team, it can happen you are not required to bowl,” Dravid explained. “The idea is obviously to try and develop people like Venkatesh Iyer as a sixth bowling option, whether it’s Venkatesh or Hardik when he comes back. We also have got the option of someone like Jadeja who has been batting really well and can potentially bat at No. 6 at certain times when he is back from the injury.”Dravid had high praise for Deepak Chahar – “Such players who can contribute with the bat down the order make a big difference”•AFP/Getty Images

There has been some discussion about Iyer’s batting position too but Dravid said the team management was “very clear with him” about his role in the side.”I know he has batted at the top of the order for KKR [in the IPL] and at times for MP [Madhya Pradesh, Iyer’s domestic side], though he has batted in the middle order as well for MP. In our team, we were looking for a No. 6 who can be a sixth bowling option. That was the role we had for him here because we have quite a few options at the top of the order at this point, especially when Rohit comes back.”One of the few positives for India in the series was Deepak Chahar’s performance with the bat in the last ODI. Chasing 288, India were 223 for 7 at one stage but Chahar, playing his first match of the series, struck 54 off just 34 balls to take them close. He had pulled off a similar chase in Sri Lanka but here India fell short by four runs.Dravid was full of praise for Chahar and Shardul Thakur, who scored 50* and 40* in the first two ODIs while playing as seam-bowling allrounders.”He [Chahar] has shown in the opportunities that he has got with us in Sri Lanka and over here as well that he has got some really good ability with the bat,” Dravid said. “I have seen him at India A as well and I know he can bat quite well. Obviously, we know what he can do with the ball. It’s nice to have people like him and Shardul, who we saw in the last couple of games being able to contribute with the bat as well. Such players, who can contribute with the bat lower down, make a big difference.”We will certainly try to give him [Chahar] a few games along with Shardul and others who can step up over the next year or so.”Apart from the allrounders, Dravid said the team was trying to give a longer run to their middle-order batters too.”That was the whole idea even on this trip,” he said. “If you see, we didn’t really change the middle order, except Surya got a chance in the last match. Otherwise, we didn’t change the batting order at all. So we want to give them that consistent run and that security. Once you give people that, then you also got to demand performances and really big performances because that’s an expectation when you play at this level for your country.”

Michael Carberry may have been disappointed to depart for 67 but his contribution added significantly to a frustrating day for the Division One leaders, Middlesex

David Lloyd at the Ageas Bowl17-May-2015
ScorecardMichael Carberry struck his fourth half-century of the season•Getty Images

Of Alastair Cook’s three former Test opening partners on view in this match, Michael Carberry is surely the least likely to add to his small collection of caps – and some would argue that Sam Robson and Nick Compton are no more than long shots themselves.Be that as it may, but Carberry has seldom been anything other than a mainstay of Hampshire’s batting line-up, in all forms of the game, and their hopes of avoiding a desperate relegation fight on their return to the Championship’s top division may well depend on the now 34-year-old’s weight of runs.Carberry, happily settled into the No. 3 slot these days, has passed 50 in four of Hampshire’s five games to date. And while he has neither made it to three figures as yet nor been able to orchestrate a victory, his solid form should be of comfort to the south-coast club as they seek to establish a foothold.The left-hander certainly did not let them down on this occasion. And while he will have been disappointed to depart for 67 – after three-and-a-quarter hours of graft and shortly before the second new ball became available – his contribution added significantly to a frustrating day for the Division One leaders.Middlesex have not played a Championship match at this venue since 2006 so just might have read more into a dry, well-grassed pitch than the hosts (who would have batted had the coin come down in their favour). But while the scoreline perhaps indicated that bowling first was a mistake, there was enough happening all day – and especially before lunch – to support the decision of new captain James Franklin.The visitors were not as disciplined as they should have been with the first new ball, conceding a stack of extras and failing to hit consistent lines and lengths. But, that said, the outside edge was still beaten on a good many occasions – and Hampshire’s top three of Jimmy Adams, Liam Dawson and Carberry defended well when necessary while missing few opportunities to put away the bad delivery.Adams and Dawson possibly had to pinch themselves when looking at a scoreboard reading 85 for 0 from 21 overs. Steven Finn, bowling a full length most of the time, might have had two or three wickets on another morning but neither Toby Roland-Jones nor James Harris hit their straps – with Harris especially wayward despite starting this contest with 29 Championship wickets to his credit.The longer the morning went on wicketless, the more Middlesex rued an early run-out chance when Roland-Jones missed the target from mid-off after non-striker Adams, on 5, had been belatedly sent back by Dawson.In the end, it was medium-pacer Neil Dexter who came to the aid of Franklin, who has taken over the captaincy from Australia’s Caribbean-bound Adam Voges. Having played nicely, Dawson pushed at an away-swinger to edge a catch behind.Still, if Middlesex thought that would be the start of something big then the old firm of Adams and Carberry put them right with a stand of 75. Runs came steadily, apart from when Finn tried his luck around the wicket to Carberry and was cut, cover driven and angled away past backward point for three fours in an over.Adams’ hopes of a century just a few days after the birth of his second son ended when he deflected a Harris yorker into his stumps and James Vince gifted spinner Ollie Rayner his wicket by hoisting a drive to deepish mid-on.It was the departure of Carberry, though, that came as the biggest surprise because he looked set to make a day of it before failing to defend securely on the back foot against Harris. That was a nasty blow for Hampshire but Will Smith hit back sensibly to make an unbeaten half-century and guarantee the hosts first-day honours.

The BCCI’s Anti-Corruption and Security (ACSU) chief Ravi Sawani has submitted his report on the alleged spot-fixing by Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila, the three Rajasthan Royals players who were arrested last month, to the board’s working com

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Jun-2013The BCCI’s Anti-Corruption and Security (ACSU) chief Ravi Sawani has submitted his interim report on the alleged spot-fixing by Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila, the three Rajasthan Royals players who were arrested last month, to the board’s working committee. The working committee, which met in Delhi on Monday, decided to forward the sealed report to the board’s two-member disciplinary committee.Board president N Srinivasan, who is currently refraining from carrying out his duties as BCCI chief pending the probe into the alleged IPL corruption, will not participate in the disciplinary committee’s proceedings. That means what was originally a three-member committee has been reduced to a two-man panel, which will now examine the results of Sawani’s probe. After studying the report, the committee will issue a charge sheet to the players, which includes all the charges laid down by Sawani, and the three players will then have an opportunity to explain their stand.Though the working committee didn’t even open the sealed envelope of Sawani’s findings during the meeting, it discussed his recommendations with regards to player regulations during the IPL. Sawani, who was a special invitee at the meeting, suggested a stricter code of conduct for the players, ESPNcricinfo has learned. The committee also discussed restricting the number of sponsored events that the cricketers have to attend during the IPL.During the meeting, the working committee also appointed Mumbai Cricket Association president Ravi Savant as the BCCI’s treasurer. Savant replaces Ajay Shirke, who resigned the post in wake of IPL controversy. Earlier, Sanjay Patel had been named the board’s new secretary, in place of Sanjay Jagdale, who had also resigned.

“It’s a disappointing performance from day one in the position we were in at lunch time and from then on, we weren’t at our best.”

Mohammad Isam05-Jan-2022Tom Latham was left to rue two missed opportunities for his side after their eight-wicket loss to Bangladesh in Mount Maunganui. It was a spectacular win for the visitors, but just as unexpected was how the home team, which held a 17-match unbeaten home record before this game, capitulated, second-best in most departments.”It is obviously a disappointing performance from day one, in the position we were in at lunch time [66 for 1],” Latham said. “From then on, we certainly weren’t at our best. Losing six [five] for 70 on day two didn’t allow us to get to the 400-450 mark. Bangladesh showed exactly how to operate in the first innings. They put us under pressure. We tried to build partnerships in our second innings but couldn’t push the advantage.Related

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“They showed it with the ball today. They were confident. They bowled really well. Full respect to them. They certainly outplayed us throughout the five days.”New Zealand’s 328 in the first innings was – before the second-innings 169 – their lowest total against Bangladesh at home, and the bowlers also couldn’t raise their game enough to swing the balance.”[It’s fair to wonder] whether we could have attacked the stumps a little bit more earlier on. But the ball was always swinging throughout the innings,” Latham said. “We haven’t played a lot of cricket here. It is not a huge amount of information, whether we could have gone a little bit straighter earlier.”They obviously played the short ball really well. They showed us the lengths we needed to bowl. They got enough out of the surface to trouble us.”New Zealand were almost at full-strength, regular captain Kane Williamson the only one missing out. And they chose to leave out Ajaz Patel, their best long-format spinner who recently became only the third bowler in history to complete a ten-wicket haul in an innings, against India in Mumbai.”It is hard to say [whether Ajaz should have been picked],” Latham said. “We give 100% backing to whoever goes out there in the XI. I thought Rachin (Ravindra) did a great job for us bowling into the wind. From that end, the surface didn’t necessarily spin a lot. I guess that’s the conversation in the future when we play here.”Latham also brushed aside the notion that New Zealand were weighed down by expectations after becoming world champions.”We know it is a new two-year cycle. What we did last time was outstanding. It was a pretty special time. The focus has quickly shifted to the two-year cycle here. We started over in India. This is the first Test of our home summer,” he said. “We are certainly not resting on [our laurels]. We know we have to turn up and play our brand of cricket. Unfortunately we didn’t quite do that.”We have a chance in a few days to put another good performance on the board.”

Michael Clarke has suggested that there could be changes to Australia’s line-up for the third Test in Mohali

Brydon Coverdale05-Mar-2013Michael Clarke has suggested that there could be changes to Australia’s line-up for the third Test in Mohali after what he called “unacceptable” performances from both the batsmen and bowlers in the first two matches. Clarke also conceded that the shot selection of the batsmen had been “horrible” so far on the tour and called on them to show more patience in the middle, as their Indian counterparts had done.Speaking straight after the defeat by an innings and 135 runs in Hyderabad, Clarke did not foreshadow what team alterations could occur, other than to confirm that he would move up the order from his No.5 position. None of the top four batsmen have averaged more than 30 during the first two Tests, while James Pattinson is the only bowler averaging under 30.The squad includes three men who are yet to play a Test on this trip – Mitchell Johnson, Usman Khawaja and Steven Smith – and the other two players left out of Hyderabad after the Chennai loss, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon, will also be in consideration. The team has eight days to regroup ahead of the third Test and Clarke said the batting and bowling departments would both be under the microscope.Michael Clarke: “There’s plenty of people that not only watch us on TV but fly around the world to support us and watch us and we know we’ve let them down”•BCCI

“We have to look at both areas that’s for sure,” Clarke said. “Both have been unacceptable, both aren’t good enough. We have to try and find ways to improve and if that means making changes that’s what we have to do. We made a couple of changes for this Test match. I want to pay credit to India, the way [Cheteshwar] Pujara and Vijay played. Our bowlers in patches bowled really well but they were able to stay together and not lose their wicket and bat patiently.”While the bowlers only claimed one victim on the second day of the Test as Pujara and M Vijay put on 370 for the second wicket, it was the team’s first-day batting that really started the rot. After Clarke won the toss and chose to bat Australia struggled to 237, a paltry effort compared to the 503 compiled by India.The accurate seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar accounted for three of the top four batsmen in the first innings and spin then troubled the rest. Clarke and Matthew Wade looked comfortable during their 145-run partnership but only three other stands reached double figures. That was followed by a second innings collapse on the fourth morning and the entire innings lasted less than two sessions. But the most damning statistic was that Australia made less in the whole match than Pujara and Vijay did in one partnership.”I think they scored 50 runs in the [first] session, but they had the discipline and the patience to bat long periods of time because they knew as the game went on, second session, third session, they would catch up,” Clarke said. “It gets easier. It does. That’s the fun part about batting. You do the work at the start of your innings, you get the reward at the end of your innings. At the moment our shot selection has been horrible.”We need to be smarter with our shot selection, that’s for sure. You have seen in the first few Tests too many guys getting out playing across the line of the ball and against the spin especially early in our innings. So I think we have to be more disciplined with our shot selection. But I don’t want guys to curb their natural instinct, I don’t want guys to try and play a way they aren’t comfortable doing.”We’ve had the best of conditions, won the toss and batted on both wickets. We knew before coming to India how important the first innings was going to be. There is more variable bounce, more spin, it is harder to bat in the second innings. That doesn’t excuse today, that’s for sure. We still should be doing than we did today and yesterday but our first innings has really let us down as a batting unit.”The result was Australia’s first innings defeat since the Sydney Ashes Test in 2010-11, when Clarke found himself in charge of the Test side for the first time as the stand-in captain when Ricky Ponting was injured. When asked to offer his overall thoughts following the second-innings collapse for 131, Clarke was blunt in his assessment.”It’s probably more polite of me by not putting it into words,” Clarke said. “It’s obviously unacceptable. Very disappointing. I certainly don’t want to take any credit away from India, I thought they played very well yesterday, they showed us once again how to bat in these conditions, they showed us once you get in how to go on and cash in and make a big score.”Our performances in these two Test matches have been unacceptable, certainly nowhere near the standard we are trying to set as an Australian cricket team. There’s plenty of people that not only watch us on TV but fly around the world to support us and watch us and we know we’ve let them down.”

The sight of MS Dhoni jumping triumphantly as James Tredwell failed to connect with the final ball of the match will become etched in the mind just like his iconic six two years back that helped India to World Cup.

Nagraj Gollapudi at Edgbaston23-Jun-2013The sight of MS Dhoni jumping triumphantly as James Tredwell failed to connect with the final ball of the match will become etched in the mind, just like his iconic six two years back that helped India to the World Cup.But even on that April evening in Mumbai, Dhoni had not celebrated in such an exhilarating fashion as he did as India won the Champions Trophy. Dhoni later explained why he let his guard down at the end of a long, long Sunday.”This means a lot because we were playing one of the best sides and also the kind of match that we had won,” Dhoni said. “To beat England in a 130-odd game is very difficult.”Although India entered the final as the only unbeaten team, playing England on home soil against their quality fast bowling attack was a challenge that was altogether different. Add to that the pressure of playing a final of a world tournament.Questions had been asked of Dhoni on Saturday if the Indian middle order, which had not done much batting in the tournament, could stand up to the task if the top order failed. Dhoni responded by saying his batsmen would need to play the situation.Yet the Indian middle order crumbled under pressure only barring some late fire fighting from Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja. The Indian target seemed small. Dhoni agreed that the frequent rain interruptions did act as a distraction.

BCCI awards cash prizes for win

The BCCI has announced prizes of Rs 1 crore (USD $167,530 approx.) to each member of the playing squad and Rs 30 lakhs (USD $ 50,265 approx.) for each member of the support staff

“After every few overs our batsmen had to come off,” he said. “People talk about getting set, getting used to the pace and then playing the big shots but that was never the case. Whenever the batsmen felt they were set, they had to come off and we had a break of 15-20 minutes. That never allowed us to gain any kind of momentum or build partnerships which were needed. And that was reflected when the middle order went in to bat. It was the main reason why we ended up scoring less than what we ended up scoring than what we had liked to score.”Before India began their defence, Dhoni pointed out upfront to his players that the only way India could win was by working hard and working to the plans: “Before going in I said, Let us firstly get rid of the feeling that it is a 50-over format. It is a 20-over game. We have seen in IPL that 130-run can be very difficult target to achieve.”He also asked them to not to look for the rain to act a saviour. “God is not coming to save us,” Dhoni told his team in the huddle. “If you want to win this trophy we will have to fight it out. We are the number one-ranked side so let us show it that they will have to fight for these 130-odd runs. So let us not look for any outside help.”The key was not allow England to build the partnerships, hence it was important to see the back of two batsmen, Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott, both classical and highly successful Test batsmen, as quickly as possible.”Trott was a very important wicket,” Dhoni said. “Cook also. They are two batsmen who look to play through the innings and the others rotate around them. That means if they get they get a good partnership going they can play freely.”The fact that he is the only captain to have won all three global limited over tournaments is something Dhoni will admit is a special feeling. According to him there were similarities in the way India won the 2007 World Twenty20 and the Champions Trophy because the players were hungry to succeed and that had helped raise the overall spirit of the squad.”There were also quite a number of players who were making a comeback and wanted to do well desperately and be part of the team,” he said. “There are a few who wanted to do well and have a settled position in the side.”

Jesse Ryder offered a ‘thumbs up’ gesture and interacted with his family and manager on the day two men were arrested and charged with assault in connection with the attack

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Mar-2013Jesse Ryder offered a ‘thumbs up’ gesture and interacted with his family and manager on the day two men were arrested and charged with assault in connection with the attack that left the New Zealand cricketer in an induced coma in a Christchurch hospital.The two men, aged 20 and 37, are set to appear in the Christchurch District Court on April 4.Progress in the police investigation was accompanied by signs of improvement in Ryder’s condition, which is now deemed stable rather than critical by medical staff. Heath Mills, the New Zealand players association chief executive, delivered a statement on behalf of the family.”Jesse is in a stable condition in intensive care. He’s been responsive and interacting with his family and the medical team,” Mills said. “Jesse is still in an induced coma, and is still needing support with breathing due to an injury to his lungs. In terms of a head injury, it cannot be fully determined at this stage what the effects of a knock to Jesse’s head are. We will know more once he comes out of the coma.”Ryder’s manager, Aaron Klee, said the thumbs up had been delivered to a neurosurgeon at the hospital before his family interacted further. Ryder’s level of sedation had been adjusted to allow him to interact with his family, Klee said, though he added that “it’s awful, he’s lying there with tubes everywhere”.”I was there this morning and they’re working on the level of sedation of the coma to a level where they can talk to Jesse and make him aware of talking to him,” Klee said. “We got a thumbs up from him this morning. Everyone was very pleased [to hear that].”We then had some interaction with me and Jesse and Jesse’s mum and Jesse’s partner. We were able to talk to him and he looked at us.”Medical staff are now assessing when may be the right time to bring Ryder out of the coma. Klee expressed thanks for all the many messages of support that have come in from around the world, and said these messages had been relayed to Ryder in hospital.Detective Senior Sergeant Bryan Archer of Christchurch police said they were now confident that only two men had been involved in the attacks.”I’ve been able to review the CCTV footage and I think we can describe it as being an altercation outside Aikmans and a second incident in the carpark to McDonald’s,” he told reporters.”A member of the public got involved to try and break up the fight and that’s probably swelled the numbers from what people saw, but I believe the altercation involved two people initially and one person in the second incident.”A candlelight vigil for Ryder will be held outside Christchurch Hospital at 7pm local time. It will be led by the Canterbury Cricket chief executive Lee Germon and the city councillor Aaron Keown.”I am really upset this has happened in our city and it is a really bad image for Christchurch,” Keown said. “Good Friday is meant to be a day of peace and the whole country will be looking at Christchurch and saying, ‘If a cricket player can’t go out with his mates and not be assaulted then what is going on?'”Ryder had been celebrating the end of the season with several Wellington team mates at Aikmans Bar in Merivale. Archer said he got into a brief altercation with a group of people as he left the bar. He crossed the road to join his team mates in McDonalds, but was assaulted before he got there.

Mickey Arthur, the coach of Australia, has outlined some of the discipline issues that had built up over the course of the tour of India

Brydon Coverdale13-Mar-2013Mickey Arthur, the coach of Australia, has outlined some of the discipline issues that had built up over the course of the tour of India, including late attendance for team meetings, back-chat and high skinfolds (tests to estimate body fat). These were among the infractions from the wider squad that led to four players being stood down for the third Test in Mohali due to their failure to complete a task in which Arthur asked every player to give ideas for individual and team improvement.When Arthur made the announcement on Monday that Shane Watson, James Pattinson, Usman Khawaja and Mitchell Johnson would not be part of the third Test due to neglecting the task, he alluded to a build-up of other behavioural issues but did not go into details. However, on the eve of the Mohali Test, Arthur has confirmed what some of the problems were, which were not specific to the four players suspended.”It has been a culmination of lots of minor indiscretions that have built up to now,” Arthur wrote in his Cricket Australia blog. “Some people may ask why it was left to get to this point, such an ‘extreme measure’. We have given lots of latitude and flexibility with a young and inexperienced squad. We know it’s going to take time for them to grow and mature, but there is only so long the leadership group can hold their hand.”This decision was about sending out a strong message that it is about time all players had some accountability for their actions. Being late for a meeting, high skinfolds, wearing the wrong attire, back-chat or giving attitude are just some examples of these behavioural issues that have been addressed discretely but continue to happen. If we’re deadly serious about getting back to number one in the world, all players need to raise the bar and lift their game.”If not, we must be content at being number three or four or five in world cricket because we won’t get any better. The players won’t learn and we’ll continue a vicious cycle. It is a strong message to everyone in Australian cricket that if you want to play for the Australian cricket team, then we demand excellence, and corner-cutting, taking short-cuts or arriving with a bad attitude will no longer be tolerated.”Arthur, the captain Michael Clarke and the team manager Gavin Dovey were collectively responsible for the decision to leave the four players out of the third Test, which could leave Australia with as few as 12 men available for the game, which starts on Thursday. Cricket Australia’s chairman, Wally Edwards, said the board was “completely supportive” of the decision taken by the Australian team management, although it has created plenty of debate from the cricket public.”When we sat down as a leadership group and made these tough decisions I knew it would polarise public opinion, but internally I certainly know we’ve made the absolute right decision,” Arthur said. “The last week and a half since the end of the Hyderabad Test has been the toughest in my 11 years of coaching.”

Sri Lanka’s Dimuth Karunaratne and Dhananjaya de Silva move up in Test batting rankings

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Apr-2021Mohammad Rizwan continued his rapid rise as a T20I batter by entering the top 10 in the ICC rankings on the back of his player-of-the-series performance in Zimbabwe.Rizwan hit 82* and 91* in the two matches Pakistan won, and that took him up five slots to tenth. He went past Eoin Morgan and Rohit Sharma on the table where Dawid Malan, Aaron Finch, Babar Azam, Devon Conway and Virat Kohli retained the top five positions.Haris Rauf was the other Pakistan player to make a noteworthy gain, up 17 places to 21st after taking four wickets in three matches.Zimbabwe, who won the second T20I to give themselves a chance of a rare series win, moved up one slot – past Ireland – to No. 11 in the team rankings, while Pakistan remained in fourth place. Elsewhere, Nepal’s victory in the T20I tri-series at home against Netherlands and Malaysia meant a move up (by one spot, past Scotland) to No 14, while Netherlands slipped from 17th to 18th and Malaysia stayed at No. 31.The drawn first Test between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in Pallekele had a number of major performances by the batters of the two sides, and that reflected in the Test batting rankings too.Dimuth Karunaratne’s career-best 244 helped him gain seven places to reach the 15th position. His 676 rating points was also his best since last January.The other Sri Lanka batter to move up was Dhananjaya de Silva, who scored 166, and was involved in a 345-run stand for the fourth wicket with Karunaratne in Sri Lanka’s only innings. He gained seven spots to reach his career-best 28th position.Among Bangladesh batters, Mominul Haque’s 11th Test century, and first overseas, took him from 35th to joint 31st, while Vishwa Fernando was the only bowler to have a decent haul, and his 4 for 96 in the first innings took him to 43rd place.