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Central Districts faced a Jesse Ryder onslaught from the outset, and couldn’t recover from it; they went down to Wellington by 55 runs in Napier

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Dec-2012
ScorecardCentral Districts faced a Jesse Ryder onslaught from the outset, and couldn’t recover from it; they went down to Wellington by 55 runs in Napier. After asking Wellington to bat, they faced Ryder’s storm, and by the time he had departed – after scoring 76 off 26 deliveries – in the eighth over, Central Districts were behind in the game. Their opponents built on the whirlwind start, and scored 214 in their 20 overs, helped by Grant Elliott’s quick half-century. Seamer Chris Woakes, with his three wickets, then helped bowl Central Districts out for 159 in 19 overs.Ryder struck a boundary off the first delivery he faced, and followed it up with a six. He dominated the opening stand of 105, scoring more than 70% of the runs. He had reached his half-century off 16 deliveries, the joint eighth-fastest fifty in Twenty20s, and the joint third-fastest in the HRV Cup. Through nine fours and six sixes, he had scored 72 of his 75 runs. When seamer Andrew Mathieson bowled him out, his team were going at 14.20 runs per over.That eventually dropped to 10.70 by the end of the innings. His wicket led to three other quick ones, but Grant Elliott and James Franklin added 83 in 8.2 overs to help them past 200. Four of Central Districts’ six bowlers had finished with an economy rate of over 11 per over.When they batted, they suffered an early blow when opener Marty Kain was dismissed off the second delivery of the innings. After scoring 14 off seven balls, No. 3 Jamie How also departed. A brief recovery ensued but was undone by the fall of quick wickets. When Carl Cachopa, the fourth-highest run-getter in Plunket Shield and the sixth-highest in the HRV Cup this season, was run out in the ninth over, his team had lost half their side for 69 runs. Will Young, who scored 34, wicketkeeper Ben Smith and Adam Milne tried to keep them in the hunt, to no avail.Ryder, with this knock, has scored 174 runs in three matches in the HRV Cup, at a strike rate of 200 – both chart-topping stats so far.

Kyshona Knight is the only new name in West Indies’ 15-member squad of the upcoming Women’s World Cup in Mumbai

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jan-2013Twenty-year old Kyshona Knight is the only uncapped player in West Indies’ 15-member squad for the upcoming Women’s World Cup in Mumbai. Kyshona will join her twin sister Kycia Knight in the team led by wicketkeeper-batsman Merissa Aguilleira.”It is a great feeling to be selected in the West Indies team with my sister,” Kyshona said. “This is a dream for both of us.”I wanted to join her from the time she made the team last year and I’m pretty excited right now that our dream of playing together for the West Indies has been realised. Not many sisters, especially twins, play the same sport and achieve similar success.”West Indies are placed in Group A along with hosts India, Sri Lanka and three-time champions England. They will play the hosts in the opening match at the Wankhede Stadium on January 31.West Indies squad: Merissa Aguilleira (capt and wk), Stafanie Taylor (vc), Shemaine Campbelle, Shanel Daley, Deandra Dottin, Kycia Knight, Anisa Mohammed, Subrina Munroe, Juliana Nero, Shaquana Quintyne, Shakera Selman, Tremayne Smartt, Kyshona Knight, Natasha McLean, June Ogle

India have again struck down the latest attempt to bring more consistency to the implementation of the DRS

Nagraj Gollapudi31-Jan-2013India have again struck down the latest attempt to bring more consistency to the implementation of the DRS by threatening to pull out of any tour in which the host country insisted on using the technology.At the ICC executive meeting in Dubai the ECB, represented by chairman Giles Clarke, was the only board that spoke in favour of a policy change where the approval of the host country would be enough to implement the DRS. N Srinivasan, the BCCI chief, shot down the proposal and ESPNcricinfo understands that the remaining boards did not make a stand.Srinivasan’s concerns are understood to still centre on a belief that the technology could be easily manipulated and is unreliable. It has been learnt that he made the claim that India would pull out of bilateral series if a system was in place where the home side could insist on the DRS.Though the DRS issue was not even listed on the agenda, or in the post-meeting press release dispatched, it was discussed at length in the wake of a renewed push during the ICC chief executives committee (CEC) meeting last month, for universal implementation of the referral system. At that meeting, held on December 4, every member with the exception of India had backed a change in the DRS implementation policy.The existing playing conditions require the approval of both countries on DRS during a bilateral series, but the CEC suggested a change in policy that would see the home board having the right to choose the use of the DRS regardless of what the opposition wanted. The CEC recommended that the issue should be resolved via a vote during the executive board meeting.In the end there was no vote as most of 13-man strong board (10 Full Members plus three Associates) failed to stand up to Srinivasan. Only Clarke, who supported the CEC recommendation, felt it warranted a discussion this week again.This is not the first time the BCCI has opposed the rest of the members on the DRS. At the ICC’s last annual conference in Kuala Lumpur, the CEC had passed the resolution to make the DRS mandatory for all events. The move was then passed to the executive board which had to ratify the decision. But despite the push from the CECs, the head of the Full Member boards refrained from putting the issue to vote.

R Ashwin troubled the top order, but Australia were rescued by their captain Michael Clarke and their debutant Moises Henriques, who shared a 151-run stand

The Report by Daniel Brettig22-Feb-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMichael Clarke began his tour of India with a century in Chennai•BCCI

Not a single observer on the opening day of India’s series against Australia was surprised by the sight of Michael Clarke conjuring his side’s spinal innings. And not one of them would have been game to predict that Clarke’s partner for a rousing stand of 151, after some major early stutters on a parched pitch, would be the debutant Moises Henriques.Arriving at the wicket soon after lunch, his team floundering at 153 for 5, Henriques showed enormous composure and exemplary technique to construct a supporting innings in the company of his captain, fulfilling the potential first evident when he starred for Australia’s Under-19 World Cup team when only 16 years old a decade ago. Clarke’s century, which took him past Sir Donald Bradman on the nation’s list of Test aggregates, was less of a surprise but no less an achievement, his pacing and poise only briefly interrupted at a critical moment shortly before tea.India’s outstanding bowler R Ashwin appealed vehemently for a bat-pad catch, and replays showed a fat inside edge. Seldom have India cursed the lack of DRS given their opposition to its vagaries, but they were left to gnash their teeth this time. A wicket then would have opened up Australia’s tail to a ball that was reverse swinging and spinning. Instead Clarke and Henriques were not separated until the final half-hour, the allrounder missing a sweep at Ashwin before Ravindra Jadeja skidded one past Mitchell Starc.Clarke had showed rare glee at winning the toss on a surface more clay court than cricket pitch, and the visitors made a rapid start before stuttering twice. First when Ed Cowan’s intemperate charge down the wicket was followed by the swift exit of a vulnerable Phillip Hughes, and again when Shane Watson, David Warner and Matthew Wade fell swiftly after lunch.

Smart stats

• Michael Clarke’s hundred takes him to joint-second position on the list of Australian batsmen with the most centuries against India. Ricky Ponting is on top with eight centuries.

• Since the beginning of the series in South Africa in 2011, Clarke has scored 2136 runs in 18 Tests at an average of 82.15. His prolific run has included eight centuries (two away).

• Among Test captains who have played at least 20 matches, Clarke’s average of 72.57 is the second-highest after Don Bradman’s 101.51. In 37 innings as captain, Clarke has scored nine centuries and five half-centuries.

• Clarke’s average is his highest since the end of his sixth Test when he averaged 60.88. The century is his sixth against India and the third in last four Tests against India.

• R Ashwin picked up each of the first six wickets to fall on the first day. The five-wicket haul is his first against Australia and sixth overall. All six five-fors have come in home Tests.

• Chennai holds the record for the most five-fors picked up by spinners in the first innings in Tests since 1970. Galle is second, with seven five-fors.

• The century stand between Clarke and Moises Henriques is the third-highest stand for the sixth wicket for Australia in Tests in India. The highest sixth-wicket stand for Australia in India is 197 between Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden in Mumbai in 2001.

• Henriques’ 68 is the sixth-highest score by an Australian No. 7 batsman on Test debut. The highest is 108 by Greg Chappell against England in Perth in 1970.

Ashwin gained spin, dip and bounce while harvesting six wickets, but the rest tended to pitch too short and gave the Australians room to manoeuvre the ball around the MA Chidambaram Stadium. Ishant Sharma and the debutant Bhuvneshwar Kumar appeared peripheral members of the attack; the omitted Pragyan Ojha can feel justly aggrieved.Cowan and Warner made a cheery start, swatting the ball around with ease against Kumar and Ishant. Warner was the scratchier of the two, having batted properly in the nets for only a few days before the match due to his rehab from a fractured thumb. Twice Ashwin beat Warner outside off stump, first drawing an edge that an incredulous Virender Sehwag contrived to spill at slip, then creating a difficult stumping chance that MS Dhoni failed to complete due to the bounce extracted.Meanwhile Cowan looked serene, so much so that he advanced to loft Harbhajan down the ground for only the second six of his 14-Test career. If that stroke showed how good Cowan was feeling, his next aggressive measure was to smack of misplaced comfort. Trying to belt another six, he was beaten by Ashwin’s greater drop and bounce, and failed to get back to his crease before Dhoni tipped the bails off. On the first morning of the series, it was hard to imagine a more wasteful exit.Unlike Cowan, Hughes had failed to make a decent score in the warm-up, and his indecisiveness was evident in a stay that featured plenty of shuffling and ended with a horrid, half-hearted cut at Ashwin that dragged the ball onto leg stump. Watson found the middle of the bat from his first ball, and with Warner had formed the foundation of a potentially handsome union by lunch.However the interval disrupted their rhythm, and moments after resumption Watson was pinned lbw on the crease by a quicker, straighter delivery that skidded. Warner fell in similar fashion, fooled by Ashwin’s change in trajectory and struck in front on the back foot when he might have leaned forward.Wade fought to get himself established but on 12 was too imprecise with placement of bat and pad and was ruled lbw to an offbreak that pitched on middle and straightened. After their rapid start Australia were sinking fast.Henriques walked to the middle in this dire scenario, but showed the good sense of a maturing cricketer, and the skills of one raised on Sydney’s often slow and turning pitches. He helped Clarke in manning the pumps, then setting a steady course, and was not unduly troubled despite the pitch’s tendency to offer the odd ball that jumped and fizzed or scuttled through low.Ashwin was absent for most of this phase, inconvenienced by a jammed finger. His return to the crease should have brought an instant wicket in the shadows of the tea break, as Clarke squeezed off bat and pad to short leg. But the umpire Kumar Dharmasena was deaf to the appeals. Clarke’s mastery of body language was apparent, too, holding the bat up and re-marking his guard as though nothing had happened.Aware of how the afternoon began, Clarke and Henriques did not dally after tea, jumping on India’s bowlers with intent. Their attack soon had Dhoni reverting to the timid captaincy and modest field placings he has become increasingly reliant upon in recent times, and the hosts’ bowling and fielding lost much of their earlier vim.Clarke appeared handicapped by a sore right shoulder at times, but was otherwise in control. Henriques, his confidence growing by the ball, did not look like getting out until he aimed a sweep at Ashwin in the 89th over of play, Marais Erasmus handing a line-ball verdict to the hosts. Starc’s swift exit provided a reminder of what may have unfolded had the tail been exposed earlier, but Clarke was still there at the close, going to his hundred with a lofted drive. With Henriques’ help, he had given Australia a chance.

The PCB constitution has been amended to change the process of appointing the board’s chairman and alter the structure of its governing board

Umar Farooq25-Feb-2013

Nomination committee and appointment of chairman

Clause 28: A nomination committee shall be formed at least three months to the expiry of tenure of the chairman or immediately upon the office of the chairman falling vacant for any reason whatsoever. The nomination committee may meet as many times as deemed necessary to considerate names of two or more individuals recommended by the Patron for the post of the chairman. The individual, in order to qualify for the recommendation for the office of chairman shall possess experience of management or administration.
Clause 29: The nomination committee, within one week from the date of receipt of nomination by the Patron, shall meet to discuss and evaluate the names of individuals for the office of chairman and unless unanimously rejected by it with reasons, recommend to the board of governors (BOG) one of the individual aforesaid for the post of chairman. In the event the nomination committee fails to take any decision in the said meeting, the name forwarded by Patron, at serial number one shall be deemed to have been recommended to the BOG. The chairman shall be appointed for a period of four years and shall be eligible for reappointment.
Clause 30: The BOG, unless it unanimously rejects the said nomination in a meeting to be held within one week of receipt of name from the nomination committee, shall formally endorse the appointment of the recommended nominee as the chairman. In the event the BOG fails to take decision in the said meeting, the nominee recommended by the nomination committee shall be deemed to be formally appointed.

The PCB constitution has been amended to change the process of appointing the board’s chairman and alter the structure of its governing board. The President of Pakistan, who is the patron of the PCB, still plays the central role in appointing the chairman and the incumbent Zaka Ashraf will hold office until the new constitution is implemented, which is likely to be before June 2013.According to the 22-page document, a copy of which was obtained by ESPNcricinfo, the President of Pakistan will recommend at least two chairman candidates to a four-member nomination committee, which will evaluate them and recommend one to the board of governors, which will have to endorse the appointment unanimously. The board chairman’s term has also been extended from three years to four.The four-member nomination committee will comprise two from the board of governors and two representatives appointed by the President of Pakistan. Previously, the President had the only say in appointing the chairman.The PCB has been criticised in the past because its constitution allowed the chairman near-dictatorial powers. The amended constitution maintains that status quo. The chairman can control and oversee income and expenditure in accordance with the budget approved by the board of governors.The composition of the board of governors was also restructured. The 14-member body will include five regional representativeselected on basis of rotation, five representatives of service organisations and departments, two non-voting former cricketers appointed on the recommendation of the chairman and two non-voting technocrats picked from a panel of threerecommended by the chairman in consultation with the President of Pakistan. The term of each member will be one year.The PCB is working to implement the new constitution in stages, to avoid any dysfunction in the system.In 2011, the ICC required that its member boards become autonomous and free of interference from governments by June 2013. Removal of government interference had also been one of the Woolf report recommendations approved by the ICC. The new constitution was produced as a result of the ICC directive and was approved on February 13, vetted by the Ministry of Law on the suggestion of the PCB and ICC feedback. However, in November 2012, ICC said it was reviewing its stance against government involvement in the administration of cricket.In Pakistan, the country’s President appoints the PCB chairman and must approve the appointment of the governing board members. The President also has the power to relieve the chairman of his post.The draft of the constitution was shared with the ICC before its finalisation and according to a PCB official most of the feedback from the ICC had been incorporated. “The ICC has worked closely with the PCB on this matter, including by reviewing the proposed constitutional provisions in respect of the appointment of the President and providing feedback to the PCB for further consideration by the Pakistan government,” an ICC spokesman told ESPNcricinfo.

Dinesh Karthik, the Mumbai Indians wicketkeeper-batsman, is enjoying his time at No. 3

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Apr-2013Dinesh Karthik, the Mumbai Indians wicketkeeper-batsman, is enjoying his time at No. 3. Batting up the order, Karthik said after setting up Mumbai’s victory over Delhi Daredevils with an explosive 86, allowed him to take advantage of the Powerplay.Karthik’s half-century came after Mumbai were reduced to 1 for 2, with Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting dismissed within the first two overs of the match. It came after knocks of 37 (a steadying innings against Chennai Super Kings after another poor start for Mumbai) and 60 (against Royal Challengers Bangalore, in a game where Mumbai fell two runs short). The tournament’s leading run-scorer so far, Karthik’s runs have come at a strike-rate of 166, easily the best among the top 10 batsmen on the runs-aggregate chart.”When I bat at No. 3, it gives me the opportunity to play in the Powerplay. It’s a slot that I really like batting at,” Karthik said after the Daredevils game. “It is important that when a team like Mumbai Indians gives you the opportunity up at the top, you have got to [repay] their faith, and show some effort and get some runs.”Karthik strung together a 131-run stand with Rohit Sharma at over 10 runs an over. Rohit provided him with ideal support, Karthik said: “Rohit and I put up a big partnership and the way he batted was just beautiful. He was giving me the strike when I required it and, towards the end, he hit the big shots after I got out.”Ponting and Tendulkar began this year’s IPL with a half-century stand against Royal Challengers, albeit at a little over a run a ball, but have not been able to contribute much with the bat since. Ponting followed up his opening-game 28 with scores of 6 and 0. Despite his failures with the bat, Karthik said, Ponting was still having a big influence on the team.”The intensity he brings on the field has been out of the world,” he said. “Probably in terms of runs he has not had a great IPL thus far, but just the intensity he brings towards captaincy and trying to bring the unit together [is admirable]. He is a great captain.”

Stuart Broad has admitted England’s bowlers need to re-establish their credentials when the series against New Zealand begins at Lord’s

Alan Gardner14-May-2013Having dealt with the Higgs Boson, perhaps the scientists at CERN can turn their attentions to the mysteries of swing. England attacks usually know their way around the subject – and in James Anderson they have one of the finest swing bowlers in the world – but they struggled to make the ball talk in New Zealand over the winter and Stuart Broad has admitted they need to re-establish their credentials when the return series begins at Lord’s on Thursday.While Anderson, Broad and Steven Finn were not comprehensively outbowled over the three Tests in New Zealand, they had been expected to pose more questions for a supposedly fragile batting line-up. Neil Wagner, the leading wicket-taker, and Trent Boult, the only frontline bowler to average under 30, got more out of pitches that were on the slow side and, as England scrapped their way to a draw in Auckland, the difference between the two sides in being able to manipulate the ball was marked.Broad was England’s best bowler in New Zealand, with 11 wickets (one fewer than Wagner, the same as Boult) at 31.72, providing encouragement after he struggled with an injured heel on the tour of India. England tend to win when their swinging – particularly at home – and Broad admitted it was something the attack would be attempting to rectify, starting at Lord’s with a Dukes ball in hand.”Regardless of what New Zealand did, as a bowling unit we didn’t swing the ball,” Broad said. “So that is something that needs to be looked at and we have looked at. But it’s not something we’re too concerned about because we need to focus on this series and we’re arriving at Lord’s, which when it’s cloudy it does swing around and we have got the best swing bowler in the world in Jimmy.”We know we can bowl a lot better than [in] New Zealand. Regardless of whether you’re moving the ball, you can still put six balls in the right area and we probably didn’t do that as a unit consistently. That’s something we want to put into place this summer and that starts here on Thursday. It’s about the discipline of the bowling unit and building pressure together.Stuart Broad had an encouraging tour but England’s bowlers were not at their best in New Zealand•Associated Press

“We’ve all got good experience bowling here at Lord’s and I think we’ve got a good record as a team here. It’s something we have looked at, the reasons why – we don’t want to panic too much but we didn’t move the ball as much as we wanted to on what were slow, placid wickets. If it doesn’t swing for us and we don’t move it off the street this week we might be having a few panic meetings.”If there have been no panic meetings – hardly the style of the captain, Alastair Cook – there may have been one or two gentle pats on the backside in training. England were accused of complacency in New Zealand, of turning up and expecting to win, and while that has been denied by the players, Geoff Miller, the national selector, said the tour had provided a reminder that the team could not just “go through the motions”.After a frustrating second half of 2012, Broad has more reason than most to seek the heat of battle. With Finn’s somewhat indifferent early season form – his place could come under threat from Tim Bresnan – a Broad resurgence would be timely for England, in a year of Ashes ubiquity. Even if this series is an to the summer’s main event, his talk of “not relaxing into Test matches” and landing “the first punch” against New Zealand will perhaps provide encouragement that England’s intensity will not desert them again.”As a team we certainly won’t underestimate anything they can do,” Broad said. “We know they’re fighters, we know they’re a tough team and we know that we have to be very disciplined to compete with them and to beat them. This week we’ve had a lot of meetings about our focus as a team, how we want to play our cricket. You’ll see a really focused team coming out on Thursday, determined to put on some good performances, to throw the first punch, to make sure the first three days are our days, the first hour is our hour, not relaxing into Test matches and chasing the game.”

Australia A’s top order again needed bailing out, this time by a century from Steve Smith, after Ireland had put them in difficultly on the opening day in Belfast

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jun-2013
ScorecardSteve Smith gained his rewards for battling against the new ball•Getty Images

Australia A’s top order again needed bailing out, this time by a century from Steve Smith, after Ireland had put them in difficultly on the opening day in Belfast.Although the Australians secured an overwhelming victory in Scotland last week the frontline batsmen did not enjoy huge success, with the majority of runs coming from Brad Haddin and Peter Siddle.This time they slipped to 65 for 4 during the morning session and were later 139 for 6 when Max Sorensen claimed his fourth by removing Siddle for duck, before Smith and James Pattinson added an unbroken 109 until rain forced an early close. Smith’s hundred came off 164 balls.”It’s nice to get a few,” he said. “The wicket played a little better probably the last 30-odd overs, it was nipping around early and was quite hard work but I got through that and it got a bit easier. The new ball did a fair bit and it was quite a tough period.”It was Sorensen who made the early inroads after Ireland, missing some of their county-based players, had won the toss. He bowled both Nic Maddinson and Usman Khawaja during his first four overs to leave the Australians 22 for 2. Trent Johnston, the senior statesman of the Ireland team, followed those breakthroughs by removing Alex Doolan for a lively 40 and claimed the key scalp of Haddin.The first period of recovery came between Smith and Moises Henriques as the pair added 74 for the fifth wicket, keeping their concentration during breaks for showers. Sorensen’s return lifted Ireland, though, when he claimed Henriques and had Siddle caught in the gully four balls later. It was an impressive display from Ireland, following on from their two extremely close-fought ODIs against Pakistan last month.The Australians countered as their lower order, not for the first time, suggested more solidity than what was above them. Smith resisted against some accurate seam bowling in helpful conditions, and later took advantage of Ireland’s back-up bowling, while Pattinson showed some of the batting prowess he has produced in Test cricket.Fawad Ahmed, the legspinner, was included in an Australian side for the first time after being drafted into the squad following the news that his citizenship would soon go through and enable him to be eligible for the national team. Weather permitting, he will add much intrigue to second day.”He’s bowling really well in the nets,” Smith said. “I’m looking forward to seeing him in the game. He’s obviously a very skilful legspinner.”

Shane Watson followed James Pattinson and Mitchell Starc in providing a tantalising glimpse of the destructive power to be found within this Australian side as they warmed up against Somerset

The Report by Daniel Brettig27-Jun-2013Stumps
ScorecardMichael Clarke looked in no discomfort in his first innings back from injury•Associated Press

Shane Watson followed James Pattinson and Mitchell Starc in providing a tantalising glimpse of the destructive power to be found within this Australian side as they warmed up against Somerset. In sending Watson up to open the innings and promising he will stay there, the new coach, Darren Lehmann, appeared to bring an immediate change to the allrounder’s previously drifting game.An innings of 90, on a blameless pitch against presentable bowling, does not quite indicate that Watson is to regain the Test match effectiveness that won him two Allan Border Medals, and had him named as Michael Clarke’s deputy in 2011. In fact the score itself was emblematic of Watson’s career aversion to making Test hundreds. But the clarity of his stroke production and the ease of his rapid scoring was exactly what Lehmann will hope for against Jimmy Anderson and company.It was a marked contrast from Watson’s previous innings, a brief affair against Sri Lanka in the Champions Trophy when one cover drive was followed by a horrid attempt to cut in line of the stumps. Wasteful dismissals such as these have been a significant factor in the failure of Watson to deliver on a promise that has hung in the air around him for a decade now, but there was nothing muddled about the way he opened up at Taunton, driving when the bowlers overpitched, pulling or glancing when short, and leaving most in between.Michael Clarke also offered a promising cameo, finding touch in his first innings of any kind for three months before rain brought an early end to day two. A pair of low scores for Ed Cowan and Usman Khawaja did not enhance either left-hander’s chances of winning a place in the XI for the first Investec Ashes Test at Trent Bridge. As the others proved, these were ideal conditions for batting.Phillip Hughes and Brad Haddin were easing their way towards useful tallies when the showers arrived. Haddin lofted George Dockrell down the ground with typical flourish to have the ball pounding off the scorers’ window in the Taunton press box. When the match resumes, Hughes should have the opportunity to press his case for retention after Cowan and Khawaja had failed to capitalise on their precedence in the batting order.Watson ran up a huge percentage of his runs in boundaries, his straight drives a particular delight. He also took full advantage whenever Craig Meschede angled into the pads, flicking with wristy power between midwicket and mid on. He briefly threatened to collar a century before lunch, but a front edge from the bowling of the slippery Craig Overton ended a stay that lasted only 94 balls, 20 of which reached the rope.Clarke’s start was a little less forthright, as could be expected for someone who had not batted since the Mohali Test match against India in March, when the suspension of four players for failing to follow instructions was followed by the flaring up of his chronic back condition. But he punched a couple of drives through cover off the back foot to get going, and showed familiar balance and footwork against Dockrell’s left-arm spin. It took a precisely-pitched away swinger from Meschede to dislodge Clarke, although by then he had probably given his back enough of a work out.Cowan, whose odds of playing in Nottingham were lengthened somewhat by the coach Darren Lehmann’s declaration that Watson would definitely open, fell in the very first over of the morning when he was deemed to have touched a Gemaal Hussain delivery on its way through to the wicketkeeper Alex Barrow. The dismissal had Cowan pointing agitatedly towards his trouser or pocket, but whatever the merits of the decision it now means one less opportunity to make the runs that would shore up his place, which may need to be earned again to some extent under Lehmann.Khawaja survived somewhat longer for his 27, but it was a scratchy effort with numerous angled deliveries troubling him outside off stump. He was struck on the body when trying to pull Overton, who was slippery, and fell in an unsurprising manner by wafting at Meschede to be pouched in the slips. Hughes had time to snick one streaky boundary before the morning session concluded.Minus Watson, the afternoon’s scoring was more sedate, but Clarke’s lack of discomfort was a welcome sign that his back has settled, and Hughes worked the ball around effectively with only the occasional flirt through the slips. He remained a little more hesitant against spin, but at least managed to get off the strike every now and then, which represented progress from India. Like Watson, a fresh start may be about to do him some good.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board has retained Mushfiqur Rahim as captain until December 31, 2013

Mohammad Isam03-Jul-2013

The BCB ad-hoc committee’s other decisions

• The Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League 2012-13 – which has already been postponed three times – will begin on August 29, after the players return from tours in England (Bangladesh A and Under-19s) and Singapore (Under-23s). The player transfers will take place under a new rotation system on July 25.

• The super league phase (the second phase) of the league will be held after the New Zealand tour, while the 2013-14 season’s Dhaka Premier League will be held after the World Twenty20’s conclusion in April.

• The BCB will request the National Sports Council, the regulatory body for sports in Bangladesh, to provide them with a schedule for elections as soon as possible. The board expects its election dates to be announced within the next 30 days.

• Nadir Shah’s mercy plea is being considered. The umpire, who was banned for corruption, had asked the board to lift the 10-year suspension.

Mushfiqur Rahim has been retained as Bangladesh’s captain, after he accepted the job following a discussion with BCB president Nazmul Hassan. The Bangladesh board handed Mushfiqur – who had resigned his post following Bangladesh’s ODI series loss to Zimbabwe in May – the captaincy till December 31 this year, meaning he will be in charge till the home series against New Zealand that begins in October.Mushfiqur, in the days following his resignation, had admitted to making a “mistake”. The board had said they would conduct an investigation into the matter, but it was ultimately Mushfiqur’s discussion with Hassan that produced the decision.”The tenures of Mushfiqur Rahim and [vice-captain] Mahmudullah ended recently,” the BCB’s media committee chairman, Jalal Yunus, said. “Mushfiqur has talked to the president, there he agreed to lead Bangladesh. He and Mahmudullah have been given extension as captain and vice-captain till December 31, 2013.”The decision to keep Mushfiqur in the job, provided he agreed to it, was always a certainty, given that he had led Bangladesh to an ODI series win over West Indies last year, a Test win over Zimbabwe, drew a Test against Sri Lanka and also secured an ODI series draw against the same opponents. Mahmudullah remains his deputy despite a run of low scores in Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.The captaincy issue was one of several discussion points during the BCB’s ad-hoc executive committee’s meeting on Wednesday, which lasted more than six hours. Another major decision to come out of the meeting was the confirmation of Shane Jurgensen as head coach till the 2015 World Cup. Jurgensen was made the interim coach last year, after Richard Pybus quit the job in October. He is considered to be a calming influence on the team.Bangladesh’s three-man selection panel will be in charge till September this year. The tenure of chief selector Akram Khan, Minhajul Abedin and Habibul Bashar expired on June 30, but they will select the squad for the New Zealand series. ESPNcricinfo has learned that the selection panel is unlikely to change even after September. The board’s cricket operations committee did not propose an expansion of the selection panel to a five-member committee, as they had talked about doing recently.