John Wright has been appointed Mumbai Indians’ head coach ahead of the sixth season of the Indian Premier League

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jan-2013Former New Zealand batsman John Wright has been appointed Mumbai Indians’ head coach ahead of the sixth season of the Indian Premier League, while Robin Singh will continue to provide his services to the team.The news came days after Anil Kumble was named the chief mentor of Mumbai Indians, and a week before the IPL auction, scheduled for February 3 in Chennai.Nita Ambani, the owner of the Mumbai Indians franchise, said she was pleased to have a coach like Wright associated with the team. “It’s a great pleasure to have John on board with Mumbai Indians. John is immensely respected and I am sure his cricketing knowledge and experience will be of enormous help.”Wright was the coach of the New Zealand team from 2010 to 2012. Under him, the team reached the semi-final of the 2011 World Cup but a year later, he decided not to renew his contract with the team, citing differences with New Zealand’s director of cricket, John Buchanan.Prior to that, he was the coach of the Indian team from 2000 to 2005. During this tenure, India won a Test series against Australia at home in 2001, drew a Test series in Australia in 2003-04, reached the 2003 World Cup final, and won a Test and ODI series in Pakistan in 2004.Wright played 82 Tests and 149 ODIs for New Zealand before he retired in 1993.

Pakistan ended a fascinating opening day of the series with the advantage after chipping South Africa out for 253 at the Wanderers.

The Report by Andrew McGlashan01-Feb-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsUmar Gul had Graeme Smith, in his 100th Test as captain, caught behind•Getty Images

Pakistan ended a fascinating opening day of the series with the advantage after chipping South Africa out for 253 at the Wanderers. Mohammad Hafeez bagged career-best figures of 4 for 16 to run through the lower order, building on a consistent performance from the visiting attack throughout the day, as the early exchanges lived up to the hope of a competitive series.Only Jacques Kallis posted a half-century; sharp catching aided Pakistan’s efforts while the bowlers shared the early wickets around, before Hafeez nipped in. Younis Khan, who before today had seven Test wickets, provided a huge bonus for Pakistan when he claimed Hashim Amla in his first over, and Hafeez struck first ball to remove AB de Villiers.Junaid Khan, the left-arm quick, was the overall pick of the attack, maintaining his accuracy throughout the day, but it was Hafeez who ended with the biggest haul. Having been given the new ball mid over, he removed Robin Peterson, shouldering arms, and then had Dean Elgar caught down the leg side. South Africa lost their last five wickets for 21, including a poor run-out of Vernon Philander, to leave Pakistan with two overs to face before the close.Misbah-ul-Haq deserves much praise for an excellent day as captain. There was an element of luck in Younis’ surprise role, but it was smart use of Hafeez to keep him in the attack with left-hand batsmen at the crease, rather than opt for what would seem the more obvious choice of a quick with the new ball. Yet, it is a role Hafeez is used to performing.Despite the openers falling in consecutive overs before lunch, a stand of 79 between Kallis and Amla was threatening to pull South Africa away in familiar style. However, moments after reaching a 74-ball fifty, Kallis failed to keep a sweetly struck pull shot down and Asad Shafiq made significant ground from deep square-leg to hold a fine catch.Kallis’ innings had shown the side of his game that has evolved in the latter part of his career; a counter-attacking ability to seize the initiative. Both he and Amla played Saeed Ajmal confidently, milking him for four an over in his first spell, although ironically it could have been the fact that Ajmal, who ended up wicketless from 23 overs, did not pose a huge threat that encouraged Misbah to give Younis his profitable trundle. With his third ball, Younis dropped one short outside off stump, Amla cut it but did not keep the shot down and Azhar Ali, at gully, clung onto a flying chance above his head.What will frustrate Smith and Gary Kirsten is the number of wasted starts. South Africa had appeared to battle through the toughest conditions when Smith and Alviro Petersen, leaving as much as they could early, blunted Pakistan’s early efforts. However, one of the factors that makes the Wanderers such a good Test venue is that the bowlers always have some encouragement.Junaid, having return for a second spell, made the breakthrough when he found Petersen’s edge by cramping him for room from round the wicket as he tried to play to leg. In the next over Smith, who had been the focus of so much attention in the build-up to the match, was also guilty of aiming across the line, and he edged a full delivery from Gul.There had been plenty to distract Smith leading to this match, as he became the first man to lead in 100 Tests and on his birthday, but he seemingly managed to put those events to one side. He looked steeled for a typically tone-setting innings and was angry with himself at the mode of dismissal.Amla and Kallis, the two pillars of South Africa’s middle order, firstly consolidated either side of lunch, and then started to expand their strokeplay, including a period of four consecutive boundaries between them. By tea, however, both had been removed and, unlike the New Zealand attack of a few weeks ago, Pakistan kept applying pressure.There was a hint of controversy early in the final session – not for the first time sparked by the DRS – when Pakistan were convinced that Faf du Plessis had edged debutant Rahat Ali to the keeper. They reviewed the not-out decision by Billy Bowden and the TV umpire concluded there was no conclusive evidence to overturn although there was a growing consensus a short while later that there was a mark on the edge.Pakistan used up their second review eight overs later when they thought de Villiers was caught down the leg side off Ajmal, but did not have to wait much longer for success. Hafeez’s first ball was floated wide of off stump, de Villiers pressed forward and Sarfraz Ahmed snapped up the outside edge.Already in a young Test career, du Plessis has rescued South Africa more than once but this time, having reached 41, departed in curious style after playing a forward defensive which sent the ball rolling slowly back towards the stumps to knock off a bail. Du Plessis held his pose for so long that he could have had time to turn and kick the ball away. The rest departed in an unexpected hurry, but judgements on the total will need to be held until South Africa’s attack has responded.

Preview of the first ODI between West Indies and Zimbabwe in Grenada

The Preview by Kanishkaa Balachandran21-Feb-2013

Match facts

February 22, 2013
Start time 0930 local (1330 GMT)Dwayne Bravo stands in as captain for the first two ODIs•WICB

Big picture

Think of a match involving Zimbabwe in 2012 and you could be forgiven if you failed to recall a single one. Bizarrely, Zimbabwe played just eight internationals in total (three ODIs, four T20s and a Test), losing all, in a forgettable year. Their last one-dayer was 11 months ago, on the tour of New Zealand. They played a tri-series in South Africa in June but their victory couldn’t be seen by a worldwide audience as the series was unofficial. They haven’t played as a unit in an international since they limped out of the World T20 in September after two games. They were due to host Pakistan and Bangladesh but none of those tours materialised. Ironically, their current tour of the West Indies, beginning with the first of three one-day internationals in Grenada, features seven games, almost the total they played in the last 12 months. They had just one practice game, against the University of West Indies Vice Chancellor’s XI, in which their batsmen found form. The lack of sufficient match practice, and, importantly, time together might be to their disadvantage as they take on West Indies.West Indies, on the other hand, have been busy travelers, having made trips to USA, England, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Australia. Their recent form has been patchy, having lost all five one-dayers in Australia, before rounding off the tour with a big win in the one-off T20. Their batting was the biggest disappointment. Now against easier opposition, they have chosen to rest their regular captain Darren Sammy and Chris Gayle. Dwayne Bravo takes over the captaincy and he said his first task is to get the team to regroup after a tough tour and get back the winning habit. Having won the World T20, the expectations among their home fans would have skyrocketed.

Form guide

West Indies LLLLL
Zimbabwe LLLWL

In the spotlight

Ramnaresh Sarwan was recalled for the Australia tour after 18 months, but failed to perform in the three opportunities he got. He was retained for the one-dayers against Zimbabwe and in absence of Gayle and Sammy, he will look to make the most of this second chance. It couldn’t have been easy for Sarwan, fitting back in to the same environment which gave him negative vibes. Water has passed under the bridge and Sarwan is happy to be back in the set up, having overcome the mental barriers that pulled him down. He smashed 90 for the Vice Chancellor’s XI on Wednesday. His best is yet to come.Vusi Sibanda has started off the tour well, cracking 147 off 114 balls before retiring out in the warm-up match. An attacking batsman, Sibanda hasn’t been a consistent scorer, with an underwhelming average of 23.93 for an opener. His record against West Indies is relatively better against other teams – 447 runs with four fifties.

Team news

Denesh Ramdin returns to the side as the wicketkeeper after Devon Thomas was dropped after an ordinary tour of Australia with the bat. Kieron Pollard, who played the Bangladesh Preimer League final on Tuesday, has experienced travel difficulties in reaching Grenada ahead of the start of the series, and is subsequently a doubtful starter. Jonathan Carter, the left-hand middle-order batsman, was called in as cover for Pollard.*West Indies (probable) 1 Johnson Charles, 2 Kieran Powell, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Dwayne Bravo (capt), 7 Andre Russell, 8 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 9 Kemar Roach, 10 Tino Best, 11 Sunil NarineZimbabwe (from) Brendan Taylor (capt), Hamilton Masakadza, Vusi Sibanda, Tino Mawoyo, Kyle Jarvis, Tendai Chatara, Chris Mpofu, Prosper Utseya, Regis Chakabva, Malcolm Waller, Keegan Meth, Craig Ervine, Chamu Chibhabha, Tino Mutombodzi, Natsai M’shangwe

Stats and trivia

• West Indies and Zimbabwe have not played each other in an ODI at St Georges.
• The teams last met in a bilateral series in the West Indies in 2010. West Indies took the five-match series 4-1 after losing the first match.
• Zimbabwe have played 21 ODIs in all in the West Indies, winning four and losing 15.

Quotes

“Cricket is played on the day and if we don’t do the right things, Zimbabwe are going to beat us.”
.04.30GMT, February 22: The preview has been updated with the news about Kieron Pollard’s travel issues.

Afghanistan drew level with Scotland in second in the ICC’s WCL Championship table after a five-wicket win that boosted their hopes of securing automatic qualification for the 2015 World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Mar-2013
ScorecardAfghanistan drew level with Scotland in second in the ICC’s WCL Championship table after a five-wicket win that boosted their hopes of securing automatic qualification for the 2015 World Cup. A second defeat to the same opponents in three days, meanwhile, was a significant blow to Scotland’s chances of finishing in the top two.Despite Kyle Coetzer’s run-a-ball 133, only three other batsmen got into double figures as Scotland made 259 from their 50 overs. Afghanistan put on several solid partnerships, with the lowest score among the top six being 28, and Mohammad Nabi rattled off 51 from 44 balls to put them on the brink of victory. A few blows from the powerful Gulbodin Naib were enough to finish the game with eight balls to spare.Nabi had earlier taken two wickets but Scotland will rue not having made a more challenging total after reaching 144 for 1 in the 32nd over. Coezter and Josh Davey (64) had combined for a second-wicket partnership of 134 but Hamid Hassan broke the stand and Samiullah Shenwari (3-42) ripped out the middle order. Dawlat Zadran took two wickets and also ran out Coezter to prevent Scotland getting away.Ireland lead the WCL Championship with 13 points, with Scotland and Afghanistan on 11, having played two games more. Netherlands, in fourth, face Namibia next month, while fifth-placed UAE host Ireland later in March. There will be a further two rounds of games, with the top two teams guaranteed a spot at the next World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

A round-up of matches in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on March 27, 2013

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Mar-2013

Group A

Unmukt Chand’s second consecutive hundred helped Delhi trounce Gujarat by 112 runs and register their first points in the table. It was a solo show by Chand as he hit ten sixes and ten fours in his 125 that came off only 63 balls. The second highest scorer in the line up was opener Dhruv Shorey with 25 runs. All Gujarat bowlers, except Akshar Patel, were taken for plenty as Chand piled on and was out in the last over as Delhi amassed 198 runs. Then Sumit Narwal picked three quick wickets to derail the chase – Gujarat stumbled 18 for 5 in the sixth over and never recovered. The innings was wrapped up in the 18th over.Vidarbha sealed a comprehensive win over Odisha in Indore. Vidarbha chose to bat and their decision was justified by a quickfire 63 from Ravi Jangid, who struck eight fours and two sixes in his 33-ball knock. He was helped by useful contributions from the middle and lower orders, including Apoorv Wankhede, who made 26 in 10 balls. In response to Vidarbha’s 180, Odisha managed only 107. Opener Ankit Yadav batted through the innings to remain unbeaten on 54, but saw wickets tumble at the other end. Only one other player reached double-figures in the chase, wrecked by fast bowler Umesh Yadav, who picked up his first five-for in Twenty20 cricket, taking 5 for 18. Yadav last played for India in the Ahmedabad Test in November 2012 after which he was sidelined due to a back problem. This was his first game of competitive cricket after that break.

Group B

A rapid half-century by Wriddhiman Saha set up Bengal‘s 14-run win against Uttar Pradesh in Indore. Put into bat, Bengal openers Shreevats Goswami and Subhomoy Das partnered in a 62-run stand, but both were out in quick succession. Saha arrived in the 11th over and along with Laxmi Ratan Shukla, added a further 98 runs in 9.1 overs. He hit two sixes and seven fours in his 35-ball 64. UP stayed abreast with the require rate during the first half of their chase, but lost four wickets during the period. They were 91 for 7 and only a spirited 31-ball 49 by Praveen Kumar took them close to the target. With the win, Bengal went to the top of Group B table with eight point from two games.Punjab eased to a nine-wicket win over Baroda in Indore, after their bowlers restricted the opposition to 126. Baroda chose to bat, and their opening pair added 44 in 4.4 overs. But captain Aditya Waghmode, who had largely been responsible for the quick start, was the first to fall, and the innings soon slipped to 50 for 3. Krunal Pandya chipped in with 23 in the middle order and was helped by the lower order in pushing the score to 126. Medium-pacer Amitoze Singh picked up three wickets and in a collective bowling effort, was aided by three others who took two each. In the chase, Ravi Inder Singh struck 69 and fellow opener, and captain, Mandeep Singh chipped in with an unbeaten 46. The pair added 118 and that helped Punjab seal the game with more than five overs to spare.

The allrounder Daniel Christian has been confirmed as Victoria’s only interstate import for the 2013-14 season while Darren Pattinson and Ryan Carters are notable omissions from the state’s contract list

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Apr-2013The allrounder Daniel Christian has been confirmed as Victoria’s only interstate import for the 2013-14 season while notable omissions include Ryan Carters, who has signed a rookie deal with New South Wales, and Darren Pattinson. The Bushrangers have finalised their squad for next summer and other players who have lost their deals include Steven Reid and Meyrick Buchanan, while the allrounder Andrew McDonald has signed with South Australia.As expected, the legspinner Fawad Ahmed has earned a Cricket Victoria contract after bursting on to the domestic scene in the second half of the summer, while batsman Marcus Stoinis and fast bowler Ryan Sidebottom have also earned deals. Louis Cameron, who made his Sheffield Shield debut last season, has been given a rookie contract, along with Guy Walker and Matt Short.”We’re delighted with the squad that we have compiled,” Greg Shipperd, the Victoria coach, said. “The acquisition of Dan Christian from South Australia will bolster our list and will provide us with an international allrounder who still has the capacity to represent his country in all formats of the game.”Fawad Ahmed was the success story from last year and we’re extremely happy to have signed him for the next three seasons, while the likes of Stoinis, Sidebottom and Cameron will add significant depth after receiving a taste of first-class cricket.Victoria squad Fawad Ahmed, Scott Boland, Daniel Christian, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, John Hastings, Jayde Herrick, Michael Hill, Jon Holland, David Hussey, Alex Keath, Glenn Maxwell (Cricket Australia contract), Clint McKay (CA), James Muirhead, James Pattinson (CA), Rob Quiney, Chris Rogers, Will Sheridan, Peter Siddle (CA), Ryan Sidebottom, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade (CA), Cameron White. Rookies Louis Cameron, Ian Holland, Matt Short, Guy Walker.

Glen Chapple and George Bailey took turns to sparkle under an oh so welcome sun and this game is not quite ready to be written off as a watery draw

David Lloyd at the Ageas Bowl25-May-2013
ScorecardGlen Chapple rocked Hampshire with four wickets in six balls•Getty Images

With Lancashire’s Great Glen, the irrepressible captain Chapple, and Hampshire’s soon to depart Australian import, George Bailey, having taken turns to sparkle under an oh so welcome sun, this game is not quite ready to be written off as a watery draw.Stalemate remains the likeliest outcome, a hardly surprising conclusion given that 88 overs were lost to the weather across the first two days. But whatever the result on the final day, there have been three or four individual performances to take away and treasure.At 39, Chapple is clearly nearing the end of a wonderful career with Lancashire. He cannot, however, have enjoyed many patches more purple than the one which threatened to shatter Hampshire here shortly after lunch.The game was proceeding along quite gently when Chapple suddenly found the reverse swing he had been seeking. The bare statistic of what followed is that he captured four wickets in the space of six deliveries, spread across two overs, but those figures do not begin to do justice to what occurred.Shielding the ball in his hands so that the home batsmen could gain no clue about what was coming next, he swung it both ways to viciously good effect.James Vince was well caught, low down at second slip, by Lancashire’s first innings hero, Andrea Agathangelou. Then, a couple of deliveries later, left-hander Sean Ervine shouldered arms to what he thought was an outswinger, only to have his off stump clipped.The two best balls, though, were saved for youngsters Michael Bates and Chris Wood at the start of Chapple’s next over. Both were of near yorker length, both swerved in late and fast and if either batsman had kept them out it would not have been far short of a miracle.Suddenly, Hampshire were 144 for 7, and they might have struggled to make 160 had Bailey, on 29, been held by a diving Stephen Moore at square leg following an uppish clip against Wayne White. Instead, the chance went to ground, the ball stopped doing precisely as Chapple commanded and the hosts were able to hit back strongly.Chapple was not to be denied the 37th five-for of his career (and his first against Hampshire) with David Balcombe chipping to midwicket. But he did have to go without a 900th first-class victim (for another day, at least) because keeper Gareth Cross was unable to pouch a diving catch when Bailey edged on 42.Even at that stage, though, the magic bubble had been burst with Danny Briggs, at No. 10, looking cool and comfortable in support of the home team’s last front-line batsman.Bailey is set to join Australia’s Champions Trophy squad after this match and it seems unclear whether he will return later in the summer. If not, he may well have ended a six-week stay as he began it – by narrowly missing out on a maiden Championship century.Against Leicestershire, on debut, Bailey batted beautifully throughout to reach 93. This time he had a couple of escapes but there was also some splendidly clean hitting and fierce counter-attacking – just as one would expect from an international T20 captain.A dozen fours and a straight six, off Kyle Hogg, took Bailey into the 80s before a mistimed drive into the covers ended his hopes of a hundred. Still, from looking in trouble, Hampshire had been piloted back to within touching distance of their visitors – a position which James Tomlinson and Balcombe reinforced by making three strikes against Lancashire’s top order.

Chris Gayle scored his 21st century to earn West Indies a bonus-point win against Sri Lanka in the first ODI of the tri-series at Sabina Park

The Report by Devashish Fuloria28-Jun-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsChris Gayle followed his own modus operandi – dead-bats to hittable deliveries, axe-swings against good ones•AFP

Chris Gayle had failed to leave a mark in cold and wet England, but he probably knows there is only one thing cool in the warmer climes of Jamaica – he himself. And no one at Sabina Park would disagree. After a lean patch in the Champions Trophy where his highest score was 39, Gayle scored his 21st ODI century – his first against Sri Lanka – as West Indies brushed the visitors aside by six wickets and earned a bonus point in the first match of the tri-series.Sri Lanka didn’t have a strong total to defend after their batsmen were felled by the spin of Sunil Narine, who picked up four wickets. Angelo Mathews kept his main bowlers on throughout to try and ensnare the big fish, but Gayle kept blocking, blocking, and then powering it over the ropes with metronomic precision.It was a typically ‘measured’ Gayle innings, following its own rhythm, irrespective of the conditions, the pitch, the attack, and the field. He followed his own modus operandi – dead-bats to hittable deliveries, axe-swings against good ones – giving not even an inkling of a chance to the fielding side and hitting at least a six off each of the five bowlers he faced.Defending a middling total, Sri Lanka knew Gayle was one hurdle they had to get past quickly, but it wasn’t to be. Mathews opened with Lasith Malinga and Nuwan Kulasekara as expected, but introduced Ajantha Mendis in the fifth over to see if Mendis could do what Narine had done in the first innings. Mathews persisted with fielders in catching positions, however, Gayle was in no hurry. Whenever it seemed a hit was needed, he had one.But despite Gayle hitting three sixes and four fours in the first 10 overs, West Indies hadn’t run away. Johnson Charles was doing his best to keep Sri Lanka interested with a laboured stay. There couldn’t have been a starker contrast. Charles struggled to read Mendis’ spin and the quicks’ swing, his misery prolonged by first, a dropped catch by Mathews, and then, by the umpire who let him get away against two good lbw appeals. He finally hit his first boundary – a six – off his 45th ball, but from West Indies’ perspective, he helped put up 115 for the opening stand.Darren Bravo joined Gayle and the two put up a quick 66-run stand to bring West Indies within touching distance of the target. The big wicket did come, when Gayle finally top-edged a sweep that was intended for the stands. There was a minor flutter as Sri Lanka picked two more wickets in the next three overs, but it was a case of too little too late.Sri Lanka’s openers had also laid a solid foundation with a half-century stand after being put in, but their lower middle order failed yet again to shore up a faltering innings after Narine dismissed both Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara. But for a fighting half-century by Mathews, they could have finished with much less than the eventual score.Jayawardene, opening for only the 26th time in 370 ODI innings, scored an effortless half-century at run-a-ball, finding the boundary with silken drives and precise cuts. He greeted Narine with a reverse-swept boundary to bring up his fifty, but was out two balls later inside-edging a sharply-turning delivery to his pads, the ball lobbing up for the wicketkeeper for a simple chance. Sangakkara was dismissed soon after, tamely pushing a flighted delivery to cover.The situation was tailor-made for the much talked-about, but yet to fire, young brigade – Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal and Lahiru Thirimanne – to send a message to their detractors. But Mathews, dropped on 7, decided thereafter to curtail his strokemaking while Chandimal and Thirimanne allowed the pressure to build and fell to soft dismissals, reducing the innings to a crawl.Only 15 runs came in the seven overs after the 28th and by the time they were forced to take the batting Powerplay, Sri Lanka were left with little firepower to take advantage. The Powerplay brought further damage. Ravi Rampaul picked up two quick wickets and Sri Lanka were left trying to use up the full quota of overs rather than going for runs.That shouldn’t take away anything from the way West Indies came back. Dwayne Bravo had elected to field hoping his fast bowlers would exploit the early moisture in the pitch, but it was Bravo who provided the first strike, getting Upul Tharanga to edge to the keeper. There was no looking back once Narine, who now has 33 wickets from 14 matches at home, was introduced. Gayle then provided the ideal finishing touches.

Pakistan allrounder Shahid Afridi remains hopeful of making an ODI comeback in the upcoming West Indies series

Umar Farooq02-Jul-2013Pakistan allrounder Shahid Afridi’s ODI career has a question mark hanging over it after he was dropped twice in the last six months following poor runs, but he remains hopeful of making a comeback for the upcoming West Indies series and is keen on playing both shorter formats.In the 21 ODIs he has played since January 2012, Afridi has picked up 15 wickets at 57.13 and scored 308 runs at 19.25. While he is an automatic selection in the Twenty20 squad, he last made an ODI comeback on the tour to South Africa earlier this year, where he remained wicketless and scored 126 in four innings with a high score of 88. He was subsequently dropped from the Champions Trophy, and has not played competitive cricket since April.Now, though, he is pushing himself hard to be ready for the West Indies series that begins with a practice one-dayer on July 11. He has been training at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore over the past couple of weeks, and he passed the fitness test he was subjected to. The Pakistan selectors will meet in Lahore on Wednesday afternoon to finalise the squad, and Afridi said he still had the desire and skills to make the team. “I am doing my best and working so hard in the nets at the National Cricket Academy over the past two-three weeks. I have working on many areas of the game and I want to play both [shorter] forms of the game.”I think I am still better than lots of players; there should be professional jealousy in me. I know how important my performance is as a senior player for the team. You can’t judge a player based only on Twenty20 performance.”Dropping “match-winners”, Afridi said, was not the way to go. Key players, he said, even when they lose form, should “stay with the team”. “Poor form doesn’t really reflect that a player is at the wrong side of his game,” he said. “Those players who are around with the team for years and are also match-winners should be kept with the team to boost their confidence. Teams are carrying their match-winners like David Warner [despite him being suspended]. You can’t be in form if you stay out of the team.”

Alastair Cook has dismissed accusations that England’s batsmen have tried to cheat Hot Spot as “blatantly not true”

George Dobell in Durham08-Aug-2013Alastair Cook has dismissed accusations that England’s batsmen have tried to cheat Hot Spot as “blatantly not true”.The England captain used his media conference ahead of the fourth Investec Ashes Test in Durham to reiterate the ECB’s request for an apology from Australian broadcaster Channel 9, who made the claims, and rubbish the story.”It’s not great when you get called a cheat as a side and you’ve been accused of something you haven’t done,” Cook said. “I think an apology is due because it’s such a blatant fabrication.”We’ve been laughing at it in our dressing room; how strange a story it is and how absurd it is.Cook’s frustration is understandable. Having just retained the Ashes in the minimum amount of games possible in his first summer as England’s Test captain, he might have expected to be basking in glory. Instead he has found himself defending his side against not just accusations of cheating but, according to Shane Warne, writing in the Telegraph, behaving arrogantly as well. Players were also accused of behaving inappropriately in the aftermath of the Old Trafford Test after newspaper pictures captured some of them smoking cigarettes.”The last couple of days have been a bit of a media storm,” Cook said. “It’s taken a bit of gloss over the fact we managed to win the Ashes in such a short space of time. But that’s out of our control.”I don’t know where the Warne story came from. Steven Smith apologised yesterday and said he didn’t think we were arrogant at all. I’ve no qualms about how our behaviour has been in this series at all.”We’re an experienced bunch we’ve been through a lot and a lot of players have been through similar circumstances with a bit of controversy in the past. We’ve stuck together well and that’s a sign of a strong team. We know how important it is and how hard we need to keep working.”

Panesar behaviour ‘unacceptable’

Alastair Cook has described Monty Panesar’s behaviour as “unacceptable” after the left-arm spinner was issued with a fixed penalty fine by police for being drunk and disorderly in the early hours of Monday morning.
Panesar, an unused member of the England squad for the Old Trafford Test but left out of the 13 named for Durham, was fined after being ejected from a nightclub for bothering women and then urinating over the club’s bouncers. His county club, Sussex, are currently investigating the episode and could suspend Panesar, which would rule him out of consideration for selection by England.
“It is a very disappointing incident,” Cook said. “Certainly for a member of the England squad as he was. Obviously negative publicity like that is not ideal and it is very disappointing.
“As far as the actual incident, you can only read reports in the papers and until you hear exactly what has happened you can’t really comment. But we know the responsibilities we have as cricketers. Any behaviour like that is unacceptable.”

Cook was among those to meet officials from the ICC in Durham on Wednesday to discuss the DRS issues that have overshadowed the series. While Cook confirmed that the ICC had accepted there had been faults, he also stated that at no stage had there been a discussion about abandoning the use of DRS or any of its component parts, including Hot Spot, for the rest of the series. Hot Spot, the technology that is designed to verify whether the ball has hit the bat, has been exposed over the first three games, with a series of clear edges not showing up upon review.”It was a good meeting,” Cook said. “They have held their hands up and said some mistakes have been made with it. It’s something which they’re trying to iron out. They’re trying to get more decisions right.”In the past Hot Spot has worked really well, but there have been three or four strange occurrences this series where there has been noise but no mark. I don’t know why. I don’t know the actual technology of Hot Spot, but I’m sure they’re working behind the scenes to try to work out why.”There was no discussion with the ICC about getting rid of Hot Spot, because of the precedent it would set. That’s a very dangerous precedent to set. In the middle of a series, if something strange happens, if you ban it then the precedent is set for another series.”It’s there to try to give as much information to the third ump to make the right decision. To ban it sets a dangerous precedent and in the past it’s worked extremely well to pick up edges. It’s just there have been strange occurrences in recent games.”Cook, who has endured a modest series to date, admitted he was “desperate” to register a match-defining total in the next two Tests. Cook has registered two half-centuries, but is averaging only 24.16 over the first three games. Despite his uncharacteristic struggles, however, Cook retained faith that his form would return soon.”I’m desperate for a score, without a doubt,” Cook said. “At the top of the order your job is to score runs. It hasn’t gone quite as well as I would have liked. I’ve made starts and when you convert starts into bigger runs it changes games, but that hasn’t happened.”I work hard at my game and I’ve scored runs in the past. My Test career suggests I do score runs, so hopefully it’s just a matter of time.”Cook also had words of praise for Graham Onions. The Durham seamer, left out of the squad for the Test at Old Trafford, made his point to the selectors in eloquent fashion by claiming nine wickets, including seven in the first innings, in the subsequent County Championship match and could win a recall for the first Ashes Test on his home ground.But while Onions’ form and consistency remains admirable, the fact that England have not won the series may count against him. England may be unwilling to rotate any of their first-choice players in such circumstances, so Onions may be reliant on one of James Anderson or Stuart Broad feeling jaded ahead of the game or the selectors deciding that his home-ground knowledge renders him more useful than Tim Bresnan.”Graham Onions has done extremely well this year in county cricket,” Cook said. “He’s pushed his name into the squad again. He was left out of a couple of games, but went back to Durham and took a lot of wickets.”He’s doing everything we’re asking of him. In our eyes the series is still very much alive. We set out to win not just retain – that’s the goal and we’re trying to pick the best XI to win.”