Australia coach Darren Lehmann’s contract has been extended until October 2019, with succession planning to be a key part of his role over the next three years

Daniel Brettig01-Aug-2016Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann will mentor the national team until the 2019 Ashes series in England before making his exit, with succession planning to be a key part of his role over the next three years.Lehmann’s contract has been extended until October 2019 by Cricket Australia, having previously been elongated until next year. Since his appointment on the eve of the 2013 Ashes series, Lehmann has guided Australia to home Test victories over England, India, New Zealand and West Indies, away defeats of South Africa and New Zealand, plus lifting the 2015 World Cup, also at home.However, a heavy away loss in the UAE to Pakistan, the surrender of the Ashes in England last year and a surprising defeat to an unfancied Sri Lanka in Pallekele last week make it patently clear that Lehmann still has plenty of work ahead of him to advance Australia’s claim to the title of the world’s undisputed best team. In addition to the multiple retirements that followed last year’s Ashes, Lehmann’s support staff have changed considerably in the past six months, offering him fresh faces with which to work towards those goals.”The board have actually seen that we are doing okay as such, barring the result in the Test [at Pallekele], but looking forward to the next few years in charge and hopefully getting some wins in the sub-continent, first and foremost on the agenda, but developing the side as we are,” Lehmann said. “We have a different coaching group now coming in and the players are refreshed and I am looking forward to the challenge.””I suppose the big one on everyone’s lips is the sub-continent – we certainly have to improve there. Ashes is a big home and away and, obviously, the World Cup. They are the big ones for us, as everyone knows, but you have got to try and win every games you play. For us, we just have to get better playing in all conditions.”Probably the spinning ball on the sub-continent [is our biggest challenge] you would think. Swinging ball – a lot has been made of the England swinging ball and we won a couple of Test matches this time, albeit we lost the Ashes and the wickets they produced were very seam friendly. End of the day, that is the way cricket goes. For us, it is probably more the sub-continent conditions at the moment, getting prepared for that obviously with the next two Test matches here and then India at the back end.”With typical frankness, Lehmann replied “I would think it would be, yeah” when asked whether the extended tenure would mark the completion of his time as coach. Between now and then, Australia face a tour of India, a Champions Trophy, another home and away Ashes contest and a World Cup in England. The newly-appointed assistant coach David Saker, recent interim coach Justin Langer and Yorkshire coach Jason Gillespie will be among the candidates to eventually replace Lehmann.”We’ll give those guys opportunities along the way. As I’ve always said, it’s the best job in the world. I love the job. But it’s a job you can’t do forever either,” Lehmann said. “So whatever opportunities we can give to the guys along the way we certainly will do. And then it’s up to the board what they do from there and the high performance department.”I think you’re judged on results most of the time all around the world not just on the subcontinent. I think you’ve got to play well and win a lot of games of cricket basically as a coach. That’s what players have to do, that’s what coaches have to do in any sport. You’ve got to hopefully keep getting the results that makes it a lot easier.”The rapid improvement of the national team’s results under Lehmann when first appointed three years ago arguably saved the jobs of more senior CA figures including the team performance manager Pat Howard and the chief executive James Sutherland. They have not yet forgotten this fact, allowing Lehmann the rare privilege of extending his role and also planning well in advance for life afterwards.This is a world away from the attitude the board once held, that Lehmann was too much of a maverick to be entrusted with a coaching job. Howard emphasised Lehmann’s standing as a popular figure in Australian cricket and an influencer of the global game, in explaining the decision.”We wanted certainty and stability for the playing group with both the coach and assistant coach contracted as we build towards the Ashes series and the 2019 World Cup,” Howard said. “Darren has had great success in the role and he and the National Selection Panel deserve a huge amount of credit for taking a relatively young side to number one in the world in two of the three formats.”What often goes unseen is how big of a supporter Darren has been of the wider cricket system in Australia and that is crucial to the long term sustainability of Australian cricket. The commitment he shows to the role goes far broader that of the Australian men’s team and extends into the global support of the game through his work on the ICC Cricket Committee.”

Fresh from a demonstration of their firepower in the first T20I, Australia will look for more of the same, even as Sri Lanka seek to give Tillakaratne Dilshan a triumphant send-off

The Preview by Brydon Coverdale08-Sep-2016

Match facts

September 9, 2016
Start time 1900 local (1330 GMT)

Big Picture

To watch Australia rewrite the T20 record books on Tuesday, you’d think they were the world’s dominant team in the format. And indeed, they do boast two of the three highest T20 international totals of all time (263 for 3 this week and 248 for 6 against England in 2013) and all of the three highest individual scores (Aaron Finch 156, Glenn Maxwell 145*, and Shane Watson 124*). Yet, for all of those monster scores, Australia were booted out in the group stage of this year’s World T20 and have only once made the final of that event, when they lost to England in 2010. It is a format in which Australia are inconsistent, but, as this week has shown, at their best their firepower is awesome.Sri Lanka, on the other hand, had won a World T20 title, back in 2014. Some links from that triumphant final remain – Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, Sachithra Senanayake. Some have gone – Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Rangana Herath, for example. And another is about to leave: Tillakaratne Dilshan, who played every match of that successful campaign, is set to play his final match for Sri Lanka. A batsman who has brought great joy to Sri Lanka – not least in the T20 format – Dilshan will hardly want to leave the game on a low, and Tuesday’s match was about as low as it gets in T20Is.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)


Australia: WLWWL
Sri Lanka: LLLLL

In the spotlight

And so this is it. Five weeks before his 40th birthday, Tillakaratne Dilshan bows out of international cricket. A career that began in Bulawayo in November 1999 under the captaincy of Sanath Jayasuriya will end in Colombo in September 2016 under the selection regime run by the same man – Jayasuriya. Dilshan’s 497th international match will be his last, a T20I against Australia at the Premadasa Stadium. Dilshan’s long farewell has included some entertaining comments off the field, but now Sri Lankan fans hope that he says goodbye with something special on it.Who needs a little thing like form? Not Glenn Maxwell, who missed out on selection for the recent ODIs in Sri Lanka due to a lack of runs. Instead, he was sent to Queensland to play for Australia A and made scores of 0, 38, 13, 0, 10 and 46. Hardly encouraging ahead of a return to Australia’s side for the T20Is in Sri Lanka. But such is Maxwell’s talent that once he got going in Pallekele he was impossible to stop, his unbeaten 145 from 65 deliveries the second-highest individual score in T20 international history. It was also Maxwell’s first hundred in any format – including domestic cricket – for more than a year. If he’s given the chance to open once again, Sri Lanka will need some new plans to stop him.

Team news

Sri Lanka’s selectors will be tempted to make changes to the attack after their annihilation in the first game. Kasun Rajitha might lose his place to Dasun Shanaka, while there is also the chance that Milinda Siriwardana may be brought in, perhaps for Sachithra Senanayake.Sri Lanka (possible): 1. Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Kusal Perera (wk), 3 Dhananjaya de Silva, 4 Dinesh Chandimal (capt), 5 Kusal Mendis, 6 Thisara Perera, 7 Chamara Kapugedera, 8 Sachith Pathirana, 9 Sachithra Senanayake/Milinda Siriwardana, 10 Suranga Lakmal, 11 Dasun Shanaka.Aaron Finch remains unavailable due to his broken finger and George Bailey has flown home, so Matthew Wade will play as a specialist batsman. The only question is whether the attack remains the same. The in-form John Hastings was left out of the first game and surely would be a valuable inclusion, but after the success of the first match the selectors may choose the same bowlers.Australia(possible): 1 David Warner (capt), 2 Glenn Maxwell, 3 Usman Khawaja, 4 Travis Head, 5 Matthew Wade, 6 Moises Henriques, 7 James Faulkner, 8 Peter Nevill (wk), 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Scott Boland.

Pitch and conditions

Sri Lanka batted first in every ODI of the recent series and only once set Australia a target that was out of reach – at this ground, when they posted 288. There should be plenty of runs in this pitch once again.

Stats and trivia

• It has been a very poor year for Sri Lanka in T20Is. In 2016 they have played 15 for only three wins – two of which came against Afghanistan and the UAE
• The three highest individual scores in T20 internationals now all belong to Australians and two of those – Glenn Maxwell’s 145* and Shane Watson’s 124*, have come in 2016
• Dilshan will finish his career second on the list of most T20 appearances (behind Shahid Afridi) and second on the list of most runs (behind Brendon McCullum)

ESPNcricinfo previews the National Cricket League Tier 1 matches that begin on September 25

The preview by Mohammad Isam24-Sep-2016

Tier-one teams

Khulna Division, defending champions

Big Picture
Khulna won their fourth NCL title last season and will once again look to retain their place among the top first-class teams in the country. Like in seasons past, they will bank on their experienced cricketers like Abdur Razzak, Tushar Imran, Anamul Haque and Ziaur Rahman.Young allrounders in Mehedi Hasan and Mahedi Hasan will give them more options in the middle-order and in the spin department, while Robiul Islam will have to lead the pace attack with Al-Amin Hossain and young Abdul Halim. Khulna will be without Imrul Kayes in the first two matches, but would hope to get hold of him after the England series.Key player
Nurul Hasan is a wicketkeeper-batsman who is touted for big things in Bangladesh cricket. However, he has so far flattered to deceive at the highest level. He was Khulna’s second highest run-scorer in last year’s competition.Below the radar
Spin bowling allrounder Nahidul Islam had a splendid run with Legends of Rupganj in the Dhaka Premier League earlier this year, but he will have to battle it out with the other young allrounders. He is a natural hitter who is also wily with his offbreaks and fields very well.

Dhaka Metropolis, second place

Big Picture
The return of Mohammad Ashraful is the big news from the Dhaka Metro camp. Though banned from international cricket until 2018, the former Bangladesh captain has been eligible for domestic cricket since August this year.Ashraful will join Marshall Ayub, Shamsur Rahman and Mehrab Hossain jnr, while the aggressive opener Mehedi Maruf will give them a boost up front.Their bowling will be led by Arafat Sunny, who was cleared by the ICC to bowl in international cricket, on Friday. Sunny now has a hugely modified action, and Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha said that his new action will be monitored closely in the coming weeks.Dhaka Metro is one of the top teams to have never won the NCL title, but an all-round team that has plenty of experience should give them a chance this year.Key player
Marshall Ayub has had an underwhelming international career so far, but he is slowly turning into a domestic run-machine. Crisp strokes, a phlegmatic attitude and firm footwork make him an important member of the Dhaka Metro batting line-up.Below the radar
Though he has played for Bangladesh, Jubair Hossain has, off late, started to fade away. The legspinner now has a chance to revive his career, and the experienced Dhaka Metro side is a good place to start that process.

Dhaka Division, third place

Big Picture
Mohammad Sharif will once again lead a strong Dhaka Division side, which is made up of players from every district in the division, except the capital city, which is represented by Dhaka Metropolis. Abdul Majid, Rony Talukdar and Shuvagata Hom will be relied upon heavily in batting, while Mosharraf Hossain and Nazmul Islam, the left-arm spinners, will be expected to take many wickets.The pace attack will have Shahadat Hossain, while seamers Mohammad Azim and Mahbubul Alam are likely to be rotated in the usually spin-friendly wickets. Dhaka Division’s last championship-winning season was 2013-14.Key player
Sharif, the captain, has been a strong performer for a number of years, and he has been in form lately too. He did well for Gazi Group Cricketers in the Dhaka Premier League and only just finished his stint in the English league circuit.Below the radar
Saif Hassan has played first-class cricket, but after the Under-19 World Cup and an insipid Dhaka Premier League campaign, this is a chance for the young opener to get runs under his belt. He can be a heavy scorer but needs to adopt a steady approach.

Barisal Division, promoted from tier two

Big Picture
Barisal Division had performed poorly over the years, but gained promotion from Tier-2 in the previous season, after the NCL introduced a promotion-relegation system for the first time. They have never won the NCL title, but will be taken seriously this time because of their performance in the previous season.Shahriar Nafees, Fazle Mahmud, Salman Hossain and Mohammad Al-Amin are their batting mainstays, while Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Sohag Gazi and Monir Hossain Khan will take care of the bowling duties.Key player
Shahriar Nafees was the highest run-getter in the tournament last year with 715 runs at 79.44 in six matches. It earned him a call-up to the Bangladesh preliminary squad. Leaner and fitter now, he will be expected to churn out the runs once again.Below the radar
Al-Amin was a revelation in this year’s Dhaka Premier League, playing for Victoria Sporting Club. Stocky and a good timer of the ball, Al-Amin also bowls offspin, although Barisal would mostly want him to score the runs.

Karnataka coach J Arunkumar believes taking “tough selection calls on seniors” and decision back youngsters despite the match-by-match scrutiny has transformed Karnataka from an ‘almost there’ side to a team that won successive Ranji Trophy titles

Shashank Kishore in Kolkata23-Oct-2016Fourteen years ago, Robin Uthappa, a teenage batsman who came with the reputation of being Karnataka’s batting future, replaced J Arunkumar in the state side before the start of the domestic season. Arunkumar, a senior player and part of Ranji Trophy-winning sides in 1995-96, 1997-98 and 1998-99, was aggrieved and turned professional, playing for Assam and Goa before retiring in 2008. Four years later, when he took on a coaching role with Karnataka, Arunkumar found himself in the same position as the selectors were in 2002-03, having to take the “brave call” of dropping seniors.This decision, Arunkumar believes, has led to the renaissance of Karnataka cricket, taking them from an ‘almost there’ side to back-to-back Ranji Trophy titles in 2013-14 and 2014-15. It is a process he is prepared to stick to as Karnataka look to reclaim the title they lost in 2015-16. They have begun promisingly this season, with a win and a draw from two matches.”It was tough, but [there were] very conscious decisions to replace senior players like KB Pawan, Ganesh Satish and a few others,” Arunkumar, who is now head coach, told ESPNcricinfo. “That call was a must then because the team management was mindful of the bigger picture. By that I mean, by 26-27 if a cricketer wasn’t playing for India A at least, chances of the national cap were remote. We didn’t want a situation where a player is just happy playing state cricket and then going away. It was a bold decision we took when asked to present a roadmap for the state team, one that has worked wonderfully so far.”Arunkumar said the decision to part with senior players put tremendous pressure on the youngsters, with some of them scrutinised on a match-by-match basis. When Arunkumar took over as batting coach before the 2012-13 season, KL Rahul was not a regular in the side. Karun Nair, Mayank Agarwal and Shreyas Gopal had not made their first-class debuts. Manish Pandey was far from national reckoning and Uthappa was struggling with form and fitness after being left out of the India team.Rahul, for example, made his first-class debut in 2010, but was dropped after three matches. It took him two more years to re-establish himself. Nair, too, failed in his first two matches. “There was pressure not to give more chances, but as coach, you have to go by instinct, and I went with my heart,” Arunkumar said. “Even someone like Karun Nair did well in only his third game.”A lot of times I have seen, and I say it from experience, that some players are slow starters. As a coach you have to give them the confidence. You need to be transparent and straightforward, you can’t be manipulative and get away; you will be sorted otherwise. We were in fact extremely lucky to have a core group in such quick time that the two championship wins brought many of them in national focus.”The national focus brought with it new challenges. The price Karnataka have paid for being so successful over the past couple of seasons is that they have lost players to the national or India A teams at various stages. While it is a matter of pride, Arunkumar said the challenge lay in handling fame and remaining grounded.”Luckily we’re in a good position where those who have played for India realise the need to not take things lightly when they return,” Arunkumar said. “That is the challenge for us as coaches to bring out the best in them. There is an inclination to not give 100% sometimes, but we have given everybody ownership and authority to take their decisions, else coaches will be made to look like prison wardens. That’s what we were taught in 1995-96 when we won the Ranji Trophy.”In 2015-16, Karnataka suffered from the after-effects of another aspect of national-team ambitions. Senior players Uthappa and CM Gautam had a “small misunderstanding” over their roles in the side because of the split wicket-keeping policy that stemmed from Uthappa’s desire to press his case as a keeper-batsman for India, a role he had fulfilled with Kolkata Knight Riders.”CM probably missed out on an IPL contract because of that, but all that is in the past now,” Arunkumar insisted. “CM lost a bit of credibility because no one saw him as a wicketkeeper, but he did it for the team. Robin himself realised it was affecting team chemistry. So this season we decided to let specialists handle their own jobs.”With the team set to remain on the road for the next three months, Arunkumar believes bonding between the players will be vital when wins are elusive. “They’re all mostly friends even outside the cricket ground,” he said. “They plan bike rides, movies, treks and outings during the off season. We all regularly meet for dinners during the season too. We’re even allowed to have a couple of beers from time to time to celebrate victories. As a coach, you can’t be imposing and set team rules and curfews. The boys understand where to draw the line, so it’s fine.”

Dale Steyn’s absence from the Hobart Test will mean an inclusion for either Kyle Abbott or Morne Morkel, with Abbott seemingly the more likely candidate

Firdose Moonda08-Nov-2016Kyle Abbott looks set to step into Dale Steyn’s shoes in the second Test in Hobart, ahead of Morne Morkel and new call-up Dwaine Pretorius. With Morkel yet to be declared fully match fit following two months on the sidelines with a back injury and, Pretorius only due to jet in once he receives confirmation of a visa, without saying it in so many words, coach Russell Domingo indicated Abbott could complete the three-man pace pack.”We’ve got two options at the moment. Kyle Abbott and Morne Morkel,” Domingo said. “Morne is coming off a back injury. We’ll assess him two days before the Test and make the call on whether he is 100% fit. Kyle Abbott is a consistent solid performer and has been every time he has come in.”We need to weigh up what type of bowler we want to use under the conditions in Hobart, because I think they are different to what they are here. It’s a fascinating series because all three venues have totally different conditions. I’ve never been to Hobart, I’ve heard its cold and the wickets are a little New Zealand-like, a little slower.”At the WACA pace and bounce provided what Kagiso Rabada called a “bowler’s paradise,” but, as Domingo said, cold, wet weather in Tasmania is unlikely to assist in the preparation of anything similar in the second Test. That may mean the pacemen have to play more defensive roles which could mean bowling longer spells. Morkel was initially left out because of concerns he would not be up for that and even though he is making progress, Abbott is regarded as more of a workhorse.South Africa are unlikely to change from their usual combination of three seamers and a spinner, Keshav Maharaj. After a debut Test in which Maharaj had to do more than he may have bargained for in a three-man attack and did it well, and performed impressively with the bat, Tabraiz Shamsi will wait for his turn.”Keshav Maharaj’s performance has been nothing short of phenomenal considering it was his first Test,” Domingo said. “He allowed seamers to have breaks when they needed to and I see him playing a massive role for this side going forward”Still, without Morkel, South Africa’s attack can be seen to lack a certain superstar status; after all Morkel and Steyn were long regarded as the golden pair. Philander proved he deserves the respect he earned when he first came in, with the way he stepped after up after Steyn went down, and Kagiso Rabada is quickly establishing himself as the leader of the attack, a label he prefers to distance himself from. But names like Abbott, Maharaj and Pretorius mean South Africa’s bench is stacked with so-called unknowns and their ability to step up to the biggest stage is what has pleased Domingo.”We’ve won some games of late without some of the best players in the world. We don’t have AB de Villiers and we’ve put in some wonderful performances. At the end of the day, they are all wonderful players,” Domingo said. “We’ve got some really good young players coming into the system and some really good young players back home. We are trying to focus on the group we have at the moment and trying to get the best out of them at the moment.”Domingo, like du Plessis had done pre-series, played down suggestions that de Villiers would make a surprise return for Adelaide after the captain told a radio station he hoped to fast-track his recovery from elbow surgery. “He has been caddying for a mate at a golf tournament,” Domingo said. “I don’t think he is going to be fit for Adelaide.. I am not a doctor but I can’t see AB being being there.”That means the batting line-up will continue to demand more from Temba Bavuma and Quinton de Kock, who have made up for inexperience with impressive temperament. De Kock has already been compared with Adam Gilchrist and if Stephen Cook’s misfiring goes on for much longer, he may be moved to the top temporarily.South Africa also have Rilee Rossouw in hand should they want to experiment, and Pretorius’ batting ability to add depth lower-down if they are unsure about the length of the tail. Pretorius has scored four half-centuries in five innings in the domestic first-class competition which put him ahead of candidates like Duanne Olivier, Marchant de Lange and Hardus Viljoen to head Down Under.

Former Australia batsman Dean Jones said that while he is all for sportsmen being able to say what they want, Glenn Maxwell did not pick the right forum for his comments on Matthew Wade

Daniel Brettig05-Dec-2016Former Australia batsman Dean Jones believes that Glenn Maxwell needs to find a mentor he can trust in order to make better decisions about what he says and also how he bats.Left out of the Australia ODI team that defeated New Zealand in the first ODI in Sydney on Sunday, Maxwell has been fined and publicly criticised by the coach Darren Lehmann and captain Steven Smith for his frank words about batting behind Victoria captain Matthew Wade in the Bushrangers’ Sheffield Shield line-up.Jones, no stranger to differences with officialdom, including his Australia coach Bob Simpson, stated that Maxwell’s struggles suggested a lack of good advice around him. He paralleled Maxwell with his earlier days when Jones’ father Barney – a stalwart of the Carlton Cricket Club – and Keith Stackpole, the former Australia opening batsman, served as confidantes.”I think he really needs a mentor,” he said while launching at the MCG. “I don’t want my sportsmen to come out of cookie moulds. I want them to have a personality and be able to say what they want, but I don’t think that was the right forum for him to do it. He’s got enough charisma in the way he plays. At the top of his game, he’s in our team, first pick, and I think he’s going to India.”But the fact remains that I think he needs a mentor, whether that be Chris Rogers, or Michael Hussey or Mark Taylor or someone like that, who he could speak to and vent. I often did with Stacky or my dad, get it off your chest and then say ‘okay, this is what we need to do’.”I don’t think you can be successful in international cricket without having someone you can speak honestly and candidly to. He’s a bit of a repeat offender and that’s hurting people. Now, is he worth working for? Yep, I think he is, he’s got a lot to offer. [R] Ashwin hates bowling to him, that’s a fact… but he needs to get some runs.”Jones expressed his surprise at Maxwell’s absence from the team at the SCG, and questioned the wisdom of batting Mitchell Marsh as high as No. 5, above Travis Head. “I would’ve had him in,” he said. “I can’t for the life of me work out how Mitchell Marsh is batting at No. 5, are you telling me Travis Head’s not as good a batsman as [Marsh]? What Travis Head did was terrific, but he still lacks a bit of polish.”Cricket’s economy now affords handsome wages to international cricketers as well as globetrotting Twenty20 specialists. Jones argued that this now meant players could be taking the opportunity to have their own personal coaches and mentors with them on tours around the world, thereby providing greater consistency of advice. That, in turn, could reduce the need for copious numbers of support staff on a tour.”I’m starting to think now, they get paid so much money, are we getting like golf and tennis where I’d have had Stacky in my hip pocket on a contract and flying around wherever I need him?” Jones said. “The money’s there and it’s a tax deduction for the players.”The selectors pick you because they like you as a player. Then, you go to a different coach, a different batting coach… how many coaches do they go through before they play for Australia? You want consistency in people around you to help get you where you want to go and protect you as much as you can. I think it’s going to get that way.”Can I go to Darren Lehmann as coach and say ‘I can’t hit the ball off the square, I’m struggling’, well, do this, go do that. But then, he takes the coach’s hat off, puts the selector’s on and says, ‘can’t pick him because he’s struggling’. Is that the environment we want? It happened with me.”Looking back at Maxwell’s ill-fated attempt to move from Victoria to New South Wales on the eve of the season, Jones said that it was symptomatic of a system where players were encouraged to think the pathway system – also criticised by former Test batsman Paul Sheahan in launching the book – was there purely to develop them. He wondered how much the current generation was encouraged to have a strong sense of affinity with any one team or state.”What type of player do we want coming through our system?” Jones said. “We’re getting a system now where if you don’t play for Victoria, you’ll play for the CA XI, and you’re just creating a pathway for players worrying about themselves instead of worrying about their state cap.”Guys move from the Stars to the Renegades to the Adelaide Strikers, because of a difference in their pay structure. We’re creating that environment to get players thinking that way instead of worrying about the team enough.”

Former West Indies captain and U-19 coach Jimmy Adams is in line to succeed Richard Pybus as the West Indies director of cricket

George Dobell and Colin Benjamin05-Jan-2017Former West Indies captain Jimmy Adams has been offered the role of director of cricket for the West Indies.Adams, who turns 49 on Monday, is understood to have originally applied for the position of head coach but was invited to consider the director of cricket role by the West Indies Cricket Board. He is now understood to have accepted the job but is currently negotiating some details with the WICB and has not yet signed a contract.He will replace Richard Pybus who has been in the position since November 2013. Pybus’ initial contract was for a period of three years and was due to expire late last year.Adams would appear to have a better chance than most of uniting all parties involved in Caribbean cricket. He is admired for his record as a player – he averaged 41.26 from his 54-Test career – and his work as a players’ representative while serving as secretary of the West Indies Players Association and president of the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations. Combined with his coaching knowledge – he has most recently completed five seasons in England as head coach of Kent – he would appear to have the respect of all parties for his integrity as much as his experience.The role of head coach remains vacant. While rumours continue to link Stuart Law with the position, it would be a surprise if any appointment is made before Adams’ elevation is confirmed.

David Warner and Usman Khawaja will both miss next week’s Chappell-Hadlee Series in New Zealand

Brydon Coverdale22-Jan-2017David Warner will be rested for the Chappell-Hadlee Series in New Zealand, while Usman Khawaja will also not be part of the squad as he heads to Dubai early for a training camp ahead of the Test tour of India. Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh have both been called in to a 14-man squad for the the three games in New Zealand, and are likely to form the opening combination.

‘Got my mental approach wrong’ – Finch

Following his recall to the ODI side, Australia opener Aaron Finch – who had been dropped for the Pakistan series – had said he has worked on getting his mental approach to batting right.
“I’ve had my most success in the shortest two formats of the game,” Finch said. “I was coming off playing in England where I was ultra-aggressive and tried to dominate the game. I took that too far into the last couple of series internationally.
“When you’re batting with Warner at one end, and Steven Smith at No. 3, it puts pressure on you mentally. You think you have to keep up with these guys, and instead of giving yourself 10-20 balls to take your first risk, I was doing it after four-five balls. I got my mental approach slightly wrong. It’s a roller-coaster to get dropped, you see your career going down the drain. You think your career is over. But you can’t kick cans over it.”

They are the only changes from the current squad taking on Pakistan in an ODI series that concludes at Adelaide Oval on January 26. Allrounder Marcus Stoinis, who was brought into the squad to replace the injured Mitchell Marsh but has not yet played a game against Pakistan, has been retained, along with the young fast bowler Billy Stanlake.Warner has not missed a match for Australia in any format since the second half of the one-day tri-series in the West Indies in June, when he flew home with a fractured finger. From the start of the Test tour of Sri Lanka in July until now, Warner has played all 29 matches that Australia have played across all formats, and is the only man to have done so during that period.”David has had a very big summer and will benefit from a break in cricket, both mentally and physically,” the interim chairman of selectors, Trevor Hohns, said. “He will travel to Dubai in the second group of departures to coincide with those players arriving from the one-day series in New Zealand.”This gives Aaron an opportunity to return to the side. His form in the Big Bash League has been very good and he has earnt his recall. With Usman heading to Dubai in the first group of players this provides Shaun with a chance to get back into international cricket following his injury earlier in the summer.”Khawaja’s early departure for the training camp in Dubai comes as Australia seek a way to turn around his form in Asia: in four Tests in Asia (all in Sri Lanka) he has 115 runs at 19.16, while across all nine first-class games he has played in Asia he has 389 runs at 32.41. Matt Renshaw, Nathan Lyon, Steve O’Keefe, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Swepson and Jackson Bird will join Khawaja in the early departure.That group will depart for Dubai on January 30, with the remainder of the Test squad to leave on February 5, after the conclusion of the Chappell-Hadlee Series. The first ODI in Auckland takes place on Monday next week – four days after the last ODI against Pakistan in Adelaide – and the series then moves on to Napier and Hamilton.Squad: Steven Smith (capt), Aaron Finch, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade (wk), James Faulkner, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood, Billy Stanlake
In: Aaron Finch, Shaun Marsh
Out: David Warner, Usman Khawaja

A round-up of the Momentum Cup matches played on March 5, 2017

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Mar-2017Lions won their second consecutive game to climb to third place with a 59-run win via Duckworth-Lewis method against Knights in Johannesburg. Lions’ victory was set up by opening batsman Reeza Hendricks, who scored an unbeaten 142 off 144 balls to help them post 294 after being put in. His knock was supported by fifties from Rassie van der Dussen (51 off 82), with whom he put on 145 for the opening stand, and Mangaliso Mosehle (59 off 47), who dominated a second-wicket stand of 90. Lions’ innings ended on 294 for 4, cut short by rain with one ball to go. Knights were handed a revised target of 294 in 49 overs, and lost openers to Beuran Hendricks (3 for 40) within the eighth over. Rudi Second (43) and Leus du Plooy put on 80 for the third wicket, but Aaron Phangiso (3 for 52) struck in consecutive overs and Beuran returned to remove Patrick Botha in the next to reduce Knights to 114 for 5. Du Plooy eventually fell for 74 after putting on 51 with Aubrey Swanepoel for the sixth wicket. There were no other significant partnerships as they were restricted to 234 for 9.Sixties from Heino Kuhn and Henry Davids, and cameos from Albie Morkel and David Wiese lifted Titans to 324 for 6 before they bowled Warriors out for 289 at Buffalo Park to move to the top of the table. Their innings was built on an opening stand off 100 between Aiden Markram (45) and Davids (66), before Tony de Zorzi (41) and Kuhn (61) carried them to 215 for 3 at the end of the 40th over. Morkel (34 off 16) and Wiese (44* off 26) then led the slog-overs charge as 109 came off the last ten overs. Warriors started their chase with a 150-run opening stand, but Markram removed the openers – JJ Smuts for 81 with his offspin, before running out Gihahn Cloete for 65 – to start a collapse of five wickets for only 22 runs in five overs. Lower-order cameos from Lesiba Ngoepe (41), Kelly Smuts (26) and Jerry Nqolo (26) kept Warriors in the hunt, but Malusi Siboto (2 for 33) took a brace to cut their resistance short.

Martin Guptill returned from injury with a match-winning unbeaten 180 off 138 balls to help New Zealand level the series 2-2 in the 4th ODI

The Report by Andrew McGlashan in Hamilton01-Mar-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:28

McGlashan: Astonishing display from Guptill

Could Martin Guptill slot back into the New Zealand line-up after a month on the sidelines and make an immediate impact? The answer to that was an ‘yes’ as he surged to a ferocious 180 off 138 balls at Seddon Park to set up a series decider in Auckland on Saturday. His innings enabled New Zealand to chase down what had appeared a challenging target of 280 with a massive 30 balls to spare.His 12th century in ODI cricket came from 82 deliveries after being saved by the DRS having been given lbw to Dwaine Pretorius on 62. Guptill dominated a third-wicket stand of 180 with Ross Taylor who made 66 off 97 deliveries, the joint second-highest for New Zealand and highest for any wicket against South Africa. Guptill finished with 11 sixes – at least four of them disappearing out of the ground – and now holds the three highest innings for New Zealand in ODIs after his 237 against West Indies in the World Cup and 189 against England in 2013.South Africa will ponder their team selection and tactics with the ball. The fact that the pitch would aid the spinners, and likely grip for the seamers, had been telegraphed a long way out. Yet they opted not to play a second frontline spinner in Tabraiz Shamsi while JP Duminy’s three overs cost 26 although AB de Villiers later defended the selection. They also did not bowl the amount of cutters and slower balls that New Zealand did mid-innings, instead the extra pace from their quartet of seamers played into New Zealand’s – and Guptill’s – hands.With the bat it was a familiar pattern: a solid base (128 for 2), a middle-order collapse (4 for 30) and then a revival led by de Villiers and the lower order to take South Africa to 279. De Villiers, Chris Morris and Wayne Parnell plundered 100 from the last eight overs to seemingly swing the match in South Africa’s favour. But then Guptill got to work.He struck the ball with blistering power, belying his lack of match time, and the signs had been promising as early as the fourth over when he pulled Parnell onto the grass banks. He connected with an even bigger blow off Morris, speeding to his fifty off 38 deliveries and needing just another 44 for three figures. The ball rarely failed to make a thunderous crack off his bat.Each time the asking rate threatened to edge much over a run-a-ball he would manage to go over or across the boundary. De Villiers didn’t know how to stop him, a feeling many a bowler has felt against the South Africa captain. The nearest Guptill came to a problem, until a missed run out on 166 when the match had been won, was when he was struck on the helmet by Morris.He overwhelmed the innings, but his partners were important. Kane Williamson helped add 72 for the second wicket as New Zealand got themselves ahead of the rate. He was also involved in, perhaps, the crucial decision of the innings. When given lbw to Imran Tahir’s second ball he pondered the review but decided to walk off. Replays showed it was out. If Williamson had gambled, there would not have been one for Guptill.Taylor then played the ideal second-fiddle, happy to ride in Guptill’s slipstream, although brought his fifty up with a huge six over midwicket to match anything his partner managed.New Zealand’s selection was far more tailored to the surface with Jeetan Patel recalled, ahead of the unlucky Ish Sodhi, as a second spinner. He struck in the first over of the match when Quinton de Kock’s run of five fifty-plus scores ended with his first golden duck in international cricket. There was an even more notable first, too, as a pair of spinners opened the bowling in the first innings of an ODI for the first time.The move did not last long, though, and Hashim Amla enjoyed the extra pace of Trent Boult but New Zealand soon switched back to spin and pace-off. Patel nabbed Amla at the start of his second spell and New Zealand began to squeeze. Tim Southee and Jimmy Neesham bowled handy spells of cutters as South Africa lost 4 for 30 in 9.5 overs. JP Duminy’s unconvincing series continued when he bottom-edged Southee, du Plessis chipped to midwicket after a 72-ball fifty, David Miller picked out deep midwicket while Pretorius was run out.De Villiers was left to try and take the innings deep again. He was sitting on 27 off 37 balls, after a period of 12 boundary-less overs, when he pulled Mitchell Santner over deep midwicket to mark his late-overs kick. Both Southee and Boult came in for late punishment, but rather than providing a total to challenge New Zealand it just enabled Guptill to play one of New Zealand’s finest one-day innings.