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Cairns investigation 'biased', defence claims

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The perjury trial against Chris Cairns has been held together by “rumour upon rumour, sustained by a biased investigation” a Southwark Crown Court jury has been told as Orlando Pownall QC continued his summing up for the defence

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Nov-2015The perjury trial against Chris Cairns has been held together by “rumour upon rumour, sustained by a biased investigation” a Southwark Crown Court jury has been told.Orlando Pownall QC was summing up for the defence for a second day in the trial in which Cairns denies two counts of perjury and perverting the course of justice, relating to his successful libel action in 2012 against Lalit Modi who had accused him of match-fixing.Pownall sought to undermine a Crown case which has involved nine witnesses, including the evidence of Lou Vincent, who has confessed to match fixing, and the New Zealand cricket captain Brendon McCullum.”We invite you to be careful to make no assumptions,” Pownall said. “Beyond rumour, beyond self-motivated lies, you cannot be sure Mr Cairns is guilty. For that reason, we invite you to acquit him.”Vincent was described as the “foundation stone” of the case against Cairns. “He is someone who is dishonest, who has lied, who has lied to you,” Pownall told the jury. If the jury concluded he was lying they should acquit Cairns as a consequence and the evidence of McCullum “doesn’t matter”.Pownall also examined McCullum’s recollections of a meeting with Cairns over dinner in 2008 in a Kolkata hotel room. McCullum’s evidence, to the ICC and later the Metropolitan Police, had changed three times – in 2011, 2013 and 2014 – and was “shifting sands” he said.Pownall said match-fixing was never mentioned in the first statement McCullum made in 2011, although the word “betting” was used time and again.”There was a meeting and Mr Cairns has never denied it, in that hotel in Kolkata, but what was discussed in that meeting was very different from the description given,” Pownall said. “What he’s talking about here is betting. Not match-fixing, betting.”McCullum also did not remember that Cairns had “definitely” told him that Vincent and Daryl Tuffey were allegedly involved in match-fixing at Chandigarh Lions until after Vincent had been interviewed by the ICC in September 2013.Pownall also invited the jury to consider why would Cairns would try to recruit McCullum to cheat, as he was a young player yet to reach the “zenith of his career” paid large sums of money in the Indian Premier League, not a “flaky individual” like Vincent who would risk his career for the sake of a “few extra dollars”.When McCullum said in a second statement that he told Kyle Mills and Shane Bond that Cairns had approached him, it referred to a meeting in Worcester the same year. He had not mentioned Kolkata.”Does it make you wonder why didn’t Mr McCullum mention the hotel meeting? Was it because himself he wasn’t sure about what it was about?”Pownall then referred to McCullum’s final statement, three years later. Only then had the names of Vincent and Tuffey – who also played at Chandigarh – also been mentioned.Pownall theorised that McCullum and Daniel Vettori, who also gave evidence for the prosecution, did not want Modi to lose his libel case because he ran IPL and his defeat might put their income at risk. “‘I don’t want him to lose, because that might imperil my contract. I don’t want my reputation to be tarnished, was what they were thinking,” Pownall said. That, he said, led them to give an account to the ICC in 2011.Pownall said that the evidence produced by the prosecution had not shown Cairns to be a liar. “He was vulnerable, but he wasn’t shown to be a liar.” Pownall said. “That’s not because he’s some clever dick who is able to evade, he’s a combative individual.”Cairns is accused of lying under oath in court when he said in that libel hearing: “I have never, ever cheated at cricket. Nor would I ever contemplate such a thing”.His co-defendant and former legal advisor, Andrew Fitch-Holland, denies one count of perverting the course of justice.

Mooney suspended over Thatcher tweet

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John Mooney has been suspended for three matches by Cricket Ireland after posting an insensitive tweet about the death of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Apr-2013John Mooney, the Ireland allrounder, has been suspended for three matches by Cricket Ireland after posting an insensitive tweet about the death of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher.Mooney, 31 and from Dublin, tweeted following Baroness Thatcher’s death on April 8 that he hoped her demise was “slow and painful” before quickly deleting the tweet and issuing an apology for causing offence.Cricket Ireland’s chief executive, Warren Deutrom, described the comments as “crass, insensitive and offensive” and Mooney was found to be in breach of his central contract, which prohibits public statements that “denigrate, are derogatory, or prejudicial to the interests of cricket; or are of a nature which brings the game of cricket or Cricket Ireland into disrepute”.Mooney, who has scored 709 runs at 24.44 and taken 34 wickets at 28.55 in 45 ODIs, will now miss Leinster’s inter-provincial matches against Northern on May 6 and North-West on May 14-16 as well as Ireland’s first ODI against Pakistan on May 23. He will be available again for the second ODI on May 26.”John accepted that the tweet was offensive and inappropriate,” Deutrom said. “We took into consideration the fact that he issued a fulsome and swift apology and that he is genuinely remorseful for his action. However, given the breach of his contract and nature of the tweet, we felt it appropriate that a three match sanction be imposed. We have also severely reprimanded John and reminded him of his duties and responsibilities as a high profile international cricketer.”Mooney played for Ireland at the 2007 and 2011 World Cups and hit the winning runs in the famous chase against England. He was also named Ireland player of the year in 2010.

Broad to miss IPL after being ruled out until May

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Stuart Broad has been ruled out of action for the next three weeks as he continues his rehabilitation from a calf strain sustained during England’s recent tour of Sri Lanka

George Dobell10-Apr-2012Stuart Broad has been ruled out of this season’s IPL in order to continue his rehabilitation from injury. Broad, who is contracted to Kings XI Punjab, sustained an injury to his right calf during England’s recent tour of Sri Lanka. Broad also missed the 2011 IPL season after sustaining a rib injury.Arvinder Singh, chief operating officer of Kings XI Punjab, said the franchise were “sorely disappointed over Broad’s absence but will soon finalise a suitable replacement”.Broad’s aim now is to return to cricket with Nottinghamshire in early May. He will train at Trent Bridge and receive regular assessments from the ECB’s medical staff. It is, at present, anticipated that he will return to duty in the County Championship against Middlesex at Trent Bridge May 9. Broad is also contracted to Kings XI Punjab for the 2013 season, subject to England commitments.Under the terms of Broad’s central contract with the ECB, he had originally been due to return to from IPL duty on May 5. Any England centrally contracted player appearing in the IPL – including Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan – is monitored by the ECB’s medical staff who keep in touch with the franchises to oversee the treatment of niggles and adherence to any predefined programmes.The workload of Broad is beginning to concern the England team management. Broad, 25, is a member of the England squad in all three formats of the game and has suffered a series of injuries over the last 18 months. A stomach muscle strain ruled him out of three Ashes Tests in Australia before a rib injury curtailed his World Cup campaign. Towards the end of the English season he then damaged his shoulder and missed the end of the India home series and Twenty20 matches against West Indies, plus the return contest in India during October which meant Graeme Swann was required as a stand-in T20 captain.The ECB have also announced the availability of the rest of the squad that toured Sri Lanka. While some players, such as Monty Panesar, Ravi Bopara, Steve Davies and James Tredwell will be available for this week’s round of championship games, others – such as James Anderson, Graeme Swann and Alastair Cook – will be rested until the start of May.

Clarke century sets up Australia's 60-run win

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Michael Clarke passed his first test as Australia’s full-time captain, leading from the front with a century before his bowlers backed up the effort to complete a 60-run win over Bangladesh

The Bulletin by Brydon Coverdale09-Apr-2011
Scorecard and ball by-ball detailsMichael Clarke led from the front with 101•Associated Press

Michael Clarke passed his first test as Australia’s full-time captain, leading from the front with a century before his bowlers backed up the effort to complete a 60-run win over Bangladesh. Australia have a 1-0 lead in the three-match series and while the results might seem inconsequential after the World Cup, the subplot of Clarke taking over the leadership from Ricky Ponting has created some interest.Clarke’s 101 suggested that the responsibility could sit well with him, and he needed to anchor the innings after Australia lost three wickets in their first 14 overs having been sent in on a good batting pitch. He helped get the Australians to a strong total of 270 for 7 and Bangladesh, who only twice in their ODI history have successfully chased totals of that size, were not up to the task.They stumbled to 9 for 2 in the fourth over of their pursuit and although Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan both made half-centuries, the result was all but certain by the halfway point of their chase. It was a strong all-round performance by Australia in the field, seven bowlers being used, including the rediscovered legspinner Cameron White, and five men claimed a wicket each.Brett Lee got things started when he had Imrul Kayes caught behind in the third over and in the next over, Shahriar Nafees fell for a golden duck when he got his pad in the way of a Mitchell Johnson delivery that would have hit the stumps. Raqibul Hasan followed for 7 when he drove John Hastings to short cover, where Shane Watson took an Aussie rules-style mark, leaping high to his left, and the hosts were in trouble.Tamim grew more cautious, Shakib steadied without scoring quickly, and the required run-rate started to expand. Although Bangladesh retained a glimmer of hope while that pair remained at the crease, the match was firmly in Australia’s control when Tamim (62) tried to clear midwicket off Xavier Doherty, only to pick out the fielder in the deep.Shakib also holed out for 51, but by that stage Bangladesh needed to score nearly 14 an over, which was as likely to happen as Australia calling on the commentator Greg Matthews for a few overs of offspin. The crowd cheered a few late boundaries from Mushfiqur Rahim (44 not out) and Mahmudullah (28 not out), but it was too little too late.Not that Australia’s victory was flawless. There remains a major concern over White’s batting form after he laboured for 50 deliveries to score 20, and continued a lean patch that stretches back to the start of the Australian summer. He was dropped at midwicket on 18 and two runs later rolled his eyes in disgust at his own miscue when he failed to clear mid-on and saw Kayes take an outstanding catch, diving to his right.Nor would Brad Haddin want to see any replays of his dismissal for 10. He wandered aimlessly down the pitch and wafted well away from his body, playing the wrong line to a Mashrafe Mortaza ball that rattled his stumps, and for a batsman capable of beautiful strokeplay, it was a horrid shot.That those lapses didn’t affect the result was thanks to the new captain Clarke, who brought up his sixth one-day hundred with a six pulled over midwicket in the 50th over. Clarke and Michael Hussey didn’t rush things through the middle overs, and at one stage played out 65 deliveries without a boundary, but their 84-run stand built a platform from which late runs could be added.Australia amassed 31 in the final two overs of the innings, and what looked like being just a competitive total was suddenly a very strong one. Clarke skied a catch from the second-last ball of the innings, but his 101 was extremely valuable after his side looked like underperforming when Haddin, Shane Watson and Ricky Ponting all departed early.He used his feet well against the spinners and struck six fours and two sixes, and his tempo was just right for the circumstances – keep things steady early and attack later. His partnership with Hussey ended when Hussey (33) tried to clear the boundary but was taken at long-off from the bowling of the left-arm spinner Suhrawadi Shuvo, who took 3 for 44.Bangladesh were generally sharp in the field and backed up their bowlers, including the captain Shakib Al Hasan, who didn’t take a wicket but helped build the pressure with 0 for 34 coming off his ten overs. An excellent piece of fielding accounted for Ricky Ponting, who swept Shuvo and saw the ball saved on the fine-leg boundary by a diving Shafiul Islam.His throw to the wicketkeeper was relayed to the bowler’s end where Ponting, who had hesitated before taking off for the third run, was caught short for 34. It was a disappointing end to a very promising innings, Ponting’s first in an ODI under another captain in nine years. He collected three consecutive boundaries off Mortaza, who was in his first match back having missed the World Cup due to a knee injury; the first a brilliant cut, the second a sweetly-timed straight drive and the third a punch through point.Ponting and Watson had looked ominous during a 65-run third-wicket stand that ended with the run-out, and soon afterwards Watson was lbw for 37, trapped by an Abdur Razzak delivery that skidded on and struck him in front. But Australia’s new leader engineered a recovery, and if his team puts in another solid all-round performance on Monday, he’ll begin his full-time captaincy era with a series win.

William Porterfield targets Twenty20 preparation

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William Porterfield, the Ireland captain, hopes his team’s three-week tour to Jamaica will set them up for an impressive display at the World Twenty20

Cricinfo staff03-Apr-2010William Porterfield, the Ireland captain, hopes his team’s three-week tour to Jamaica will set them up for an impressive display at the World Twenty20. The squad arrived over the weekend to take part in the Jamaica Cricket Festival with involves a West Indies team, Canada as well as the hosts.Ireland have been grouped with West Indies and England during the initial phase of the World Twenty20, which starts on April 30, so this tournament will allow them an advanced look at a few of the West Indian players they will come up against.”Our main focus is to use this tournament to help in our build-up to the ICC Twenty20 World Cup and we are looking to getting some good cricket under our belt and getting into the winning mentality,” said Porterfield. “This is a good tough tournament and we are really looking forward to it.”Trent Johnston, Ireland’s opening bowler, will be a key figure at the World Twenty20 and admitted it will be good to get a few matches under his belt after a period of down time since the qualifiers in Dubai.”It’s been snowing for a couple of days [in Ireland] so a lot of our preparations have been indoors; gym work and that sort of thing,” said Johnston. “We have been on sort of a break for about five weeks or so since the end of the qualifiers for the ICC Twenty20 World Cup, so we are probably a little bit rusty, but nothing that a few training sessions or a good three-day game won’t iron out.”As a senior player, I’d like to lead from the front,” he added. “Wherever experience or a cool head is needed, I’d like to get in and benefit the team as best as I can. Hopefully it will go well and we will get our preparation right heading into the ICC World Twenty20.”For Ireland the trip back to Jamaica also allows them to recapture memories of their 2007 World Cup campaign when they famously beat Pakistan to progress to the Super Eights. During their time on the island three years ago the Irish supporters became a focal point of a tournament that wasn’t often renowned for its crowds.”It feels pretty good to be back here in Jamaica, we have a lot of good memories from here and now we’re looking forward to the cricket,” said Porterfield. “The supporters were definitely one of the real highlights of the last time that we were here with the crowds and the atmosphere that they create so we are looking forward to playing in front if them.”When it comes to the World Twenty20 itself Ireland will be able to tap into the local knowledge of their coach Phil Simmons and Porterfield will also be relying on him for information about the players they will face in the next few weeks.”We don’t know a lot about the Jamaican team and so we will be relying on coach Phil in that area…we’ll take it as it comes and adapt once the tournament starts,” he said.

Nepal topple West Indies for their first-ever win against a Full Member

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It was a complete team effort by Nepal, who outplayed the two-time world champions in every facet of the game

Hemant Brar27-Sep-2025Nepal created history as they beat West Indies by 19 runs in Sharjah for their first-ever win against a Full Member across formats. They had beaten Afghanistan in a T20I in 2014, but Afghanistan were an Associate back then.Even if you keep the win aside for a moment, it was a historic occasion for Nepal. It was their first T20I against West Indies and the start of their first bilateral series against a Full Member. They made it even more special by outplaying the two-time world champions in every facet of the game. It was a complete team effort by Nepal: six of their batters hit at least one six, six of their bowlers took at least one wicket, and their fielding was top-notch.Leading a second-string West Indies side that featured four debutants, Akeal Hosein opted to field after winning the toss. Nepal did not start well and both their openers were back in the pavilion by 3.1 overs. Kushal Bhurtel was beaten by an arm ball from Hosein and was stumped. Aasif Sheikh stepped out to Jason Holder but miscued the lofted shot and was caught by a backpedalling mid-on.Until the final over of the powerplay, Nepal had hit just two boundaries. Their captain Rohit Paudel doubled that count with back-to-back fours off debutant Ramon Simmonds in the sixth over, but it was Kushal Malla who provided the real momentum. He first smashed Fabian Allen to the long-on boundary for a four and then, in the spinner’s next over, deposited one into the stands for the first six of the innings.Malla hit another six, off Obed McCoy this time, to take Nepal to 68 for 2 at the end of ten overs. He and Paudel added 58 off 45 balls before both holed out against debutant legspinner Navin Bidaisee. Gulsan Jha and Dipendra Singh Airee tried to keep the momentum going, but Bidaisee struck again, getting rid of Jha to finish with 3 for 29 from his four overs. Then, in the 19th over, Holder picked up three wickets. But thanks to West Indies’ catching that oscillated from jaw-dropping grabs to face-palming drops, Nepal had a fighting 148 for 8 on the board.File photo: Rohit Paudel top-scored for Nepal with 38 off 35 balls•AFP/Getty Images

Kyle Mayers kicked off the chase with a first-ball four. But it all went downhill for West Indies from there. It started with Bhurtel’s direct hit to run Mayers out in the second over of the chase. Ackeem Auguste, another debutant, hit two delightful sixes but he too fell inside the powerplay.Still, West Indies were placed fairly well at 40 for 2 after six overs. But the Nepal spinners spun a web around the West Indies batters from which they could not come out. Paudel and Lalit Rajbanshi gave away only 16 in the next four overs while picking up a wicket each.With West Indies needing 93 from the last ten overs on a pitch where the shot-making was not easy, Nepal were the favourites. Three overs later, Airee’s brilliance in the field sent back Keacy Carty. Carty had set off for a non-existent single after pushing the ball towards covers. His partner sent him back but he could not beat Airee’s bullet through to the wicketkeeper.After that, West Indies depended heavily on Holder but he could manage only 5 before holing out to deep midwicket off Bhurtel. Bidaisee, Allen and Hosein tried to keep the fight on with their big hits but they could not keep up with the asking rate. West Indies needed 70 from the last five overs, and 49 from the last three.In the 18th over, the otherwise flawless Nepal fielders dropped Hosein twice in two balls. The first one went for a four and the second for a six. But Karan KC removed the West Indies captain in the following over, leaving Allen to score 28 from the 20th. He could not pull that off.

Pant, Khaleel and Mukesh seal Capitals' first win despite Dhoni special

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Warner and Pant set things up with half-centuries, and Khaleel and Mukesh finished the job with the ball

Shashank Kishore31-Mar-20241:53

Aaron: ‘Really good move for Pant to bat at No. 3’

At approximately 11 on Sunday night, Visakhapatnam came alive. ‘Hosts’ Delhi Capitals were on their way to their first win, but the result suddenly seemed irrelevant.MS Dhoni strode to the middle to bat for the first time since last year’s final and immediately sent the decibel levels soaring, walloping his first ball for four behind square leg and bludgeoning his third through extra-cover.

Pant cops over-rate fine

Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant was fined INR 12 lakh (USD 14,000 approx.) after his team was found to be short of the minimum required over rate after taking time allowances into account. It was his first over-rate offence of IPL 2024.

When he hit Khaleel Ahmed for an inside-out six in the next over, the crowd threatened to blow the roof off. Chennai Super Kings still needed 46 off 12; one run more than a side had ever made off the last two overs to win in the IPL.Mukesh Kumar was tasked with bowling a clutch over. His figures until then read 2-0-16-3. One more good over would close the game out, more or less, and he delivered, bowling a series of wide yorkers that Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja couldn’t get underneath.MS Dhoni smoked an unbeaten 37 off 16 in his first innings of IPL 2024•BCCI

The over went for 5, and Super Kings needed 41 off six. Impossible if extras didn’t come into it.That was no reason for the crowd to stop. Dhoni was on strike. They wanted him to turn the clock back. And he did, walloping Anrich Nortje for two fours and two sixes. Dhoni finished 37 not out off 16, Super Kings fell short by 20 runs, but you couldn’t quite say if the fans in yellow were disappointed at the result or ecstatic at watching their hero do his thing.After he scythed a full-toss for six to finish the game, the realisation dawned that the Capitals had picked up their first win of the season, a result set up by David Warner and Rishabh Pant with the bat, and finished off by Khaleel and Mukesh.Matheesha Pathirana ended with 3 for 31•Associated Press

Shaw, Warner lay down the marker

Prithvi Shaw made 106 runs in eight innings in IPL 2023, at an average of 13.25. When he didn’t begin the season, you wondered if the Delhi Capitals were looking beyond him already.Turns out they weren’t.Coming in for local boy Ricky Bhui and slotting in at the top of the order, Shaw laid the foundation with a 93-run opening stand in 9.3 overs with David Warner.All the trademark elements of a Shaw innings were on display: sumptuous driving, fierce cuts and delectable wristwork. Warner was more muscle, but he also had a tantalising effect with his leg-side strokeplay. When he brought up his half-century off just 32 balls, Capitals were flying.Rishabh Pant hit four fours and three sixes•BCCI

Pathirana makes a splash

You didn’t know until last week if Matheesha Pathirana would feature in the tournament at all. But in taking a blinder at short third in the 10th over, leaping full-stretch and pulling off a one-handed stunner while airborne, he put to rest any concerns over his back. Warner saw his jaw-drop in disbelief at the athleticism, and had to drag himself off.Pathirana was only warming up.His second act was even more sensational, even though it’s something we’ve come to expect.A ball after being dismissed for six in the 15th over, he splayed Mitchell Marsh’s middle stump with a pinpoint yorker. Two balls later, he had Tristan Stubbs with another toe-crusher. Capitals were fast ceding momentum, and by the end of that over had slipped to 134 for 4.

Pant comes to the party

The early part of Pant’s innings seemed like a struggle. He kept losing his shape when balls were dug into the pitch on a length. At 23 off 23, the frustration seemed all too evident. But he backed himself to emerge from the rut, and when he did, it was breathtaking.He took down Mustafizur Rahman first and Pathirana next, peppering the long-on boundary with his strong bottom hand and the shovel he’s known for. When he sliced Pathirana in the same over to the point boundary, he’d brought up a 31-ball half-century. A 19th over that went for 17 helped give Capitals momentum to finish on 191 for 5.Khaleel Ahmed put Capitals on top with the early wickets of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rachin Ravindra•BCCI

Khaleel’s stunning spell

3-0-9-2.The left-arm quick left Super Kings in a rut right at the top. Ruturaj Gaikwad was taken out by late seam movement back in. Rachin Ravindra holed out to mid-on, frustrated by his inability to put bat on ball. Khaleel’s first 12 balls brought three runs.Daryl Mitchell and Ajinkya Rahane treaded cautiously, seemingly to try and bat deep. Occasionally, they played shots that delighted the purist. Like a flicked six by Rahane off Rasikh Salam. The pair revived the innings with a 68-run stand, but the asking rate had swelled to 11.70 with 10 overs remaining.Capitals didn’t have Kuldeep Yadav due to a niggle. Axar Patel had a job to do. And he broke the partnership by having Mitchell caught and bowled. He could have had Impact Sub Shivam Dube third ball as he tried to hack one over cow corner, but the bottom edge was put down by Pant.

Mukesh leaves his imprint

Tasked to bowl the tough overs, Mukesh picked up two in his first over, the 14th, to leave Super Kings gasping. He felled Rahane with a slower one that he hit to long-on, and Sameer Rizvi with a superb seam-up delivery that he nicked to short third.With Super Kings needing 79 off 30, Anrich Nortje bowled a gun third over full of wide yorkers to deny the batters. The over went for just seven and all the pressure that had crept up consumed Shivam Dube as he picked out long-off in the 17th over to give Mukesh his third wicket.The game seemed done. And then Dhoni walked out, sending everyone into throwback mode even though the game had gone beyond Super Kings’ reach.

Suryakumar Yadav, KS Bharat, Todd Murphy make debuts as Australia bat vs India

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Australia pick Handscomb in place of Head; Shami and Siraj form India’s pace attack

Sidharth Monga09-Feb-2023Australia won a crucial toss as they started their quest to achieve what looks impossible in today’s cricket: beat India in a Test series in India. there was no hesitation in batting first on a surface that is expected to help spin generously. Australia’s captain Pat Cummins said, “It looks like a pretty even wicket… through the middle.” It was perhaps a reference to the rough patches on a spinner’s good length outside left-hand batters’ off stump.Perhaps keeping that in mind, Australia offloaded one of their left-hand batters, Travis Head, in favour of Peter Handscomb. They also handed out a cap to offspinner Todd Murphy. In the absence of the injured Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland shared the seam-bowling duties with Cummins.India were missing their best batter of the last two years, Rishabh Pant, but they still looked formidable, especially their bowling. In R Ashwin, the returning Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel, they had three different but deadly accurate fingerspinners, which suggests India expect help from the surface. These three also added heft to the batting, forming a strong lower middle order along with two debutants: wicketkeeper KS Bharat and maverick Suryakumar Yadav. The latter was chosen ahead of Shubman Gill perhaps because India anticipate high-impact innings in short time to be of more value in the middle order.Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj formed India’s pace attack.India 1 Rohit Sharma (capt.), 2 KL Rahul, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Ravindra Jadeja, 6 Suryakumar Yadav, 7 KS Bharat (wk), 8 R Ashwin, 9 Axar Patel, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Mohammed SirajAustralia 1 David Warner, 2 Usman Khawaja, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steven Smith, 5 Matt Renshaw, 6 Peter Handscomb, 7 Alex Carey (wk), 8 Pat Cummins (capt.), 9 Todd Murphy, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Scott Boland

Pat Cummins confirmed as Australia's new Test captain

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Steven Smith returns to a leadership position with the vice-captaincy

Andrew McGlashan26-Nov-2021Pat Cummins has been named Australia’s new men’s Test captain on the day it appeared Tim Paine’s international career may have come to an end a week after he stood down following the emergence of explicit text messages.Steven Smith has returned to his first official leadership role with the national side since the ball-tampering scandal by taking the vice-captaincy position. It puts him an injury away from captaining the Test side again.Cummins, who was interviewed for the top job along with former captain Smith, was approved by the CA board on Thursday night after the recommendation of a five-person panel consisting of chair Richard Freudenstein, chief executive Nick Hockley, director Mel Jones and selectors George Bailey and Tony Dodemaide.”I am honoured to accept this role ahead of what will be a massive Ashes summer. I hope I can provide the same leadership Tim [Paine] has given the group in the past few years,” Cummins said. “With Steve and I as captains, a number of very senior players in this squad and some great young talent coming through we are a strong and tightly knit group.”This is an unexpected privilege which I am very grateful for and am very much looking forward to.”Related

  • 'Still up in the air' – Alex Carey and Josh Inglis neck and neck to replace Tim Paine

  • Cummins faces rocky transition into Australia captaincy

  • Lyon endorses Cummins and Smith as 'two best candidates' for captain and vice-captain

  • Tim Paine out of Ashes after taking indefinite break from the game

Cummins has been earmarked as a potential future captain for a number of years but was overlooked for a vice-captaincy position in 2018 before being elevated to a shared role in 2019 then as the single understudy in 2020.”Pat is an outstanding player and leader. He has earned enormous respect from his teammates and from all corners of the game for his attitude and achievements, both on and off the field,” Hockley said. “We are extremely fortunate to have an experienced group of senior players who themselves are superb leaders. I have no doubt that Pat and Steve will be well supported in their respective leadership roles.”His only captaincy experience at the professional level is with the New South Wales one-day side last season when he captained them in four matches in what became a trophy-winning campaign although he missed the final due to the IPL.When NSW gave him the job it was with a view to him being Australia captain at some point amid concerns that candidates for the position were not being given enough opportunity at state level.Over to you, skipper•Getty Images

It will be a step into the unknown for Australian cricket with the men’s team having not been captained by a fast bowler since Ray Lindwall did it on a one-off occasion in 1956.Given the strains of fast bowling there is a strong chance Smith will take the helm at some point during their tenure.”I am pleased to return to the leadership of the team and look forward to helping and assisting Pat in any way I can,” Smith said. “Pat and I have played together for a long time, so we know our respective styles well.”Initially the timeline for the transition from Paine to a new captain might have been earmarked for after the Ashes but the events of last week meant the process was put into fast forward although CA said it would be a rigorous process with significant background checks for candidates.Being an integral part of all three formats there was already a huge burden on Cummins although his durability as a fast bowler has been outstanding since his comeback in 2017. He has only missed two of Australia’ last 35 Tests, albeit they have only played nine matches since the 2019 tour of England due to Covid-19 postponements.Cummins is currently part of Australia’s T20 World Cup and Australia A contingent still in quarantine on the Gold Coast. When they emerge next week there will be a short and intense lead-in to the Ashes with Cummins quickly having to grasp the various demands of being Australia captain before he walks out to toss the coin with Joe Root at the Gabba on December 8.

Joe Denly facing final curtain as England prepare to bounce back again

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Chris Silverwood backs Jos Buttler to come good as England regroup at Emirates Old Trafford

Andrew Miller13-Jul-2020Joe Denly looks set to pay the price for England’s four-wicket defeat in the first Test against West Indies, but Jos Buttler can expect to be given “the best chance to succeed” despite his own flat-lining Test form, as the head coach Chris Silverwood prepares to lift his squad ahead of Thursday’s second match at Emirates Old Trafford.With England’s captain Joe Root set to slot back into the side at No. 4 following the birth of his second child, the obvious fall-guy is Denly, 34, who once again failed to capitalise on a pair of solid starts with scores of 18 and 29 at the Ageas Bowl.After 15 Tests in a row dating back to England’s tour of the Caribbean in early 2019, those latest innings epitomise a flatlining career in which Denly’s average has now slipped back below 30. Moreover they contrast increasingly starkly with the efforts of Denly’s Kent team-mate Zak Crawley – 12 years his junior – whose second-innings 76 at the Ageas Bowl completed the fifth consecutive match in which he has posted a Test-best score.”That’s what we are looking for,” Silverwood said. “If we can create an environment where these guys can learn and continually improve then we will end up with some very good cricketers on our hands.”Zak is improving constantly. He certainly showed maturity and the innings he played was very good. We have some young players in that side that seem to have good heads on their shoulders, and he’s one of them. We’d have all loved to have seen him go on and get up to three figures but what we did was very good and helped us get into the position that we did.”After debuting at No. 6 in New Zealand and playing as an opener in South Africa, Crawley’s selection at No. 4 was a sign that he had been the likelier player to make way for Root’s return in that position in Manchester.However, when pressed on Denly’s continued presence in the side, Silverwood struggled to give his player much solace, and confirmed that his place would come under discussion when he and Root sit down with Ed Smith, the national selector, this afternoon to finalise England’s squad for the second Test.”We’re all desperate to see Joe do really well,” he said. “We can see he’s trying hard, he’s training hard. He’s a great bloke hence why we all went to see him do well, but obviously he’s under pressure a little bit, yeah.”POLITE ENQUIRIES: Does Ed Smith wear Jos Buttler pyjamasAnother player who might expect to feel the pinch is Buttler, England’s vice-captain in Root’s absence, whose scores of 35 and 9 at the Ageas Bowl continued a fallow run of form in which he has scored a solitary half-century in his last 21 Test innings, going back to the tour of the Caribbean.With Ben Foakes now confirmed as the Test squad’s wicketkeeping understudy following Jonny Bairstow’s selection in the white-ball squad to face Ireland at the end of the month, Buttler would appear to be running out of opportunities to translate his world-beating one-day form into the Test arena, where he averages 31.46 with one hundred in 42 appearances.Silverwood, however, indicated that the selectors’ patience had not yet run out, and despite the hugely worthy claims of Foakes – who made a hundred on his debut in Sri Lanka and averages 41.50 in five Tests – he backed England’s incumbent to live up to his indisputable talent.”I’m not going to go down that road yet of putting Jos under pressure, because I don’t think it’s going to help him,” he said. “So, first and foremost, we want to give Jos the best opportunity to succeed. But you’re right, we have got a very, very good gloveman in Ben Foakes out there, which we’re lucky to have.”[Jos] looked brilliant coming into this game, in practice and everything. He looked very good in the first innings. He just needs to go and make those big scores now, doesn’t he? Which he knows as well.”From our point of view it’s just making sure that he feels confident in the environment he’s in. We’ll give him the best chance to succeed really. The rest of it is, he has a good day out, gets some runs, hopefully the rest will be history – he’ll go on from there.”England are at least in familiar territory going into the second Test, having lost the opening match of a series for the eighth time in ten campaigns, dating back to the Ashes tour in 2017-18. Most recently in South Africa they bounced back from a heavy defeat in the first Test at Centurion to win the series 3-1, and Silverwood was hopeful that the same spirit would come to the fore now.”It is something that’s been spoken about, and it’s something that we keep managing to do,” he said. “We have to address and it look at how we get out of the blocks a little bit quicker.”We had a good chat in the dressing room afterwards – as you always do, you sit down and you look at areas where you missed opportunities here, you’ve built well there.”I tend to try and find the positives in everything. And South Africa was used as an example of how well we can bounce back. But what I don’t know want to do is take any credit away from the West Indies because I thought they played very, very well.”Another key issue for England will be the management of their bowling resources, with Stuart Broad champing at the bit to get involved after being controversially omitted from the opening Test, a decision that ended his run of 51 consecutive home appearances.Broad voiced his displeasure at that decision in a mid-Test interview, but Silverwood echoed Ben Stokes’ post-match sentiments and welcomed his determination to continue fighting for his place.”I think Stuart handled himself very well during that interview, to be honest,” Silverwood said. “What I did love about it, and subsequently the conversations I’ve had with him, is that passion. That drive is still there and to see that in someone who’s done as much in the game as he has, I find very exciting to be honest. And Stuart still has a big role to play within this team. I’ve made that very clear to him.”With six Tests to be played in the space of seven weeks, attrition among England’s fast-bowling ranks is inevitable, but Silverwood was optimistic of a clean bill of health in the build-up to Old Trafford.”We have one or two stiff bodies this morning as you can imagine,” he said. “I’ve been to see the guys already. But they all seem to have come through well. We will know more after training tomorrow. We will put them through their paces and see where we are at. Nothing is a given in this team as we’ve seen and people will be playing for their spots. Everything will be considered.”