Ishant Sharma, the India fast bowler, has said that his ankle has healed completely and that he no longer needs surgery to fix it

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Nov-2011Ishant Sharma, the India fast bowler, has said that his ankle has healed and that he, in all probability, no longer needs surgery to fix it. Ishant, who played the first Test against the West Indies in Delhi, had sustained a ligament injury to his left ankle during the third Test against England at Edgbaston earlier this year. He was forced to miss the limited-overs part of the England tour and the subsequent one-day series against the same opponents in India, but recovered in time to play against West Indies.”There is no risk about it [ankle],” Ishant told reporters after India’s practice session on Sunday. I’ve been working a lot on my ankle and everything. I am fit now and I am ready to play in Australia, and I don’t think even after the Australia tour I will need surgery.”Zaheer Khan, India’s leading fast bowler, has been out of action since the first Test in England back in June. With offspinner Harbhajan Singh also missing, having been dropped for the first two Tests against West Indies, Ishant has been catapulted into the role of India’s senior strike-bower, a role he said he was happy to fill.”Obviously it’s a great feeling … It’s an honour to lead the Indian attack. Being the senior-most bowler in the team, it’s really great. It’s difficult to express this kind of feeling actually. You are obviously going to miss a bowler like Zak [Zaheer]. But injuries are part and parcel of the game. You have to play the role of the senior when someone is injured. Whoever you have in the team, you need to go ahead and give your best shot.”Given India’s recent spate of injuries, the selectors have taken the opportunity to blood a few new players during the recently completed one-day series against England and the first Test against West Indies. Among the new faces in the ODIs were Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron, while Yadav played in the Test win over West Indies in Delhi. Both bowlers impressed with their pace and Ishant said it was a “great feeling” to be part of an attack that can bowl quick.”Earlier, everyone was saying that India can’t produce fast bowlers. Now all the three fast bowlers are consistently clocking 90 miles per hour. Obviously it’s a great feeling for any fast bowler in the team.”When he was asked why India’s bowlers failed to get reverse-swing at the Feroz Shah Kotla, Ishant it was difficult to do so on the first day when the track was fresh. “The only thing you can do is to be consistent and bowl in the right areas. As the day progresses, you get reverse-swing. Reverse-swing happens only on second or third day of a Test match.”The Australia tour is after this series. We will get two practice matches there to get accustomed to the conditions. In India, the wickets are like this only. We can’t complain about this.”

James Taylor has completed his switch from Leicestershire to Nottinghamshire following agreement over compensation to his former county

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Dec-2011After weeks of lengthy negotiations the batsman James Taylor has completed his switch from Leicestershire to Nottinghamshire following agreement over compensation to his former county.Taylor, who has played one ODI against Ireland, still had a year to run on his Leicestershire contract but had made clear his desire to move to Division One in the belief that it will further his England ambitions.”I’m thankful to Leicestershire for allowing me to speak to other counties as I feel that I will benefit from playing against the best teams in four-day cricket,” said Taylor. “Nottinghamshire have a talented squad that can challenge on all fronts and I am pleased to be part of that.”I will always be grateful to Leicestershire for the part they have played in my development but it is time to move on and I am looking forward to the new season.”Taylor is currently in India with the England performance squad but could yet feature for the senior side in the coming months if changes are made to the one-day team, following the whitewash in India, or in the Test squad if he pushes aside Ravi Bopara. His Championship statistics were a little disappointing in 2011 with 889 runs at 38.65 in 13 matches, but he averaged 58.28 in the CB40.When he stepped up to England Lions level he hit two hundreds in a three-match one-day series against Sri Lanka A then struck 76 and 98 in the one-off Test. Overall his first-class average is an impressive 49.82″James is already on England’s radar and we hope that he can play a part for us on his way to realising his international ambitions,” said Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket Mick Newell. “This is a significant signing for us and we hope that he can make an impact in all competitions.”There was a lot of interest from counties for James’s signature and we are very pleased that he has chosen to commit to Nottinghamshire.”Taylor is the second England batsman to join Nottinghamshire ahead of the 2012 season following Michael Lumb’s arrival from Hampshire and Newell is still exploring further signings.”We lost Mark Wagh and Ali Brown last season but James and Michael are fitting replacements and they were our primary targets,” he said. “The international calendar may also present us with an opportunity to recruit an overseas batsman and we’re exploring that to see if we can do a deal with the right player.”

Phillip Hughes may be the best thing going for a battling New Zealand outfit right now

Daniel Brettig at the Gabba04-Dec-2011Australia’s fidgety opening batsman Phillip Hughes may be the best thing going for a battling New Zealand outfit right now. After Chris Martin had Hughes dropped in the slips from a typical edge, then caught in the gully from a flailing cut next ball in the hosts’ chase of a mere 19 to wrap up the first Test, the visiting captain Ross Taylor said of the Australia squad for Hobart: “I’d love him to be in the team.”This was a damning statement, but a true one, for Martin’s bounce and angle caused Hughes all manner of trouble in both innings, and allowed New Zealand a way into the Australian batting order. The national selectors must make a difficult call on Hughes sooner or later, and Taylor’s enthusiasm about the 23-year-old as an opponent, when most err towards the respectful when discussing the opposition, will be ringing in their ears.”If Hughes plays in Tasmania then obviously Chris Martin will be bowling at him and hopefully Martin Guptill takes a third catch too,” Taylor said. “We had a lot of video footage of all the Australian players and Hughes got caught at second, third slip and gully a lot in the Ashes and in South Africa. That was definitely an area we wanted to target, and with the way Chris Martin bowls, he bowls across the left-hander.”Since returning to the Australian XI during the Ashes last summer, Hughes has spent countless hours working with the assistant coach Justin Langer, trying to eradicate the problems outside off stump that have recurred all too often against diligent new ball bowling. But he remains as susceptible as ever to the presentation of a crooked bat and a resultant edge to the slips, accounting for a Test record that features three centuries but too many brief stays at the crease. In 17 innings since the Ashes recall, Hughes has passed 36 only twice.Hughes’ position is complicated further by the fact that the captain, Michael Clarke, is his staunchest defender in public and his closest friend in the team. As a selector, Clarke is part of the discussions that must be edging closer to removing Hughes from the XI, but he is refusing to budge in his support.”I look forward to a press conference where I don’t get asked about Phillip Hughes,” Clarke said after Australia’s victory. “Once again, not concerning for me. I have confidence that Hughesy will come out in Hobart and perform. He got a hundred not that long ago, 80-odd not that long ago. I’ve seen Hughesy cut that ball for four a number of times. I’m sure he would be disappointed personally that he hasn’t made any runs in this test match, but I’m confident he can put his hand up in Hobart and get a big score for us.”Clarke said he had seen plenty of improvement in Hughes’ technique since his first bout of problems, against Steve Harmison and Andrew Flintoff in England in 2009.”I think his technique has improved out of sight,” Clarke said. “Every one of us has deficiencies in technique. And these days with the footage you can get on players, it’s very easy to find out what those deficiencies are. It’s no different for any batsman. I have seen a lot of improvement. I continue to see him scoring runs. Probably not as consistent as he would like, but he’s still scoring them. His record for NSW is better than any 23-year-old in this country. He’s scored three great hundreds for Australia and I’m confident he can score a lot more.”

Misbah-ul-Haq, the captain who has brought discipline back to Pakistan cricket, was not about to forego a perfect opportunity for an attritional day

The Report by David Hopps18-Jan-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsWickets late in the day got England back into the match•Getty Images

Smart stats

• The 114-run stand between Mohammad Hafeez and Taufeeq Umar is the sixth century opening stand for Pakistan against England and their first against England since 1996.

• This is only the sixth time that both openers have scored over fifty in an innings for Pakistan against England. The previous occasion was the forfeited Oval Test in 2006.

• Hafeez scored his seventh half-century in Tests. The 88 is his second-highest score against England after the 95 in the forfeited Oval Test in 2006.

• Taufeeq’s half-century is his 13th in Tests overall and his third fifty-plus score in his last four innings. Since his comeback in 2010, Taufeeq has scored 1026 runs at an average of 44.60 with three centuries.

• Misbah-ul-Haq became the sixth Pakistan batsman to score over 1000 runs as captain. His average of 74.07 is comfortably the highest on the list followed by Saleem Malik’s 52.35.

• Misbah also became the 28th Pakistan batsman to reach the 2000-run landmark in Tests. His average of 46.47 puts him fifth on the list of Pakistan batsmen with 2000-plus runs.

• England have won only two Tests in the subcontinent after conceding a first-innings lead. Both the wins have come against Pakistan, in Lahore (1961) and Karachi (2000).

Misbah-ul-Haq, the captain who has brought discipline back to Pakistan cricket, was not about to forego a perfect opportunity for an attritional day. There was a Test to be won and he was determined to win it slowly. The stadium was virtually empty and he seemed of a mind to empty it further. He might prove to be a wise old bird.Misbah is a batsman to slow a heartbeat. He is also a captain to calm a nation. His drip-feed innings enabled Pakistan to negotiate the second new ball, but it did not quite make the match safe. He had plodded to 52 in nearly three-and-a-quarter hours when Graeme Swann won an lbw decision, via the review system, in the penultimate over of the day. It was appropriate that his final shot was a studious defensive push.His departure filled England with fresh resolve. They immediately grabbed another wicket in the final over, James Anderson’s late swing proving too much for Abdur Rehman. Pakistan’s lead at the close was 96, but in such favourable batting conditions England could be satisfied at taking seven wickets in the day.Only once in the past 20 years have England won a completed Test after making less than 200 in the first innings of a match. They bowled with great discipline in the last two sessions and stifled Pakistan, but Saeed Ajmal’s career-best 7 for 55 has left them with a monumental task.Misbah’s main ally was Mohammad Hafeez, who has played only two Test innings against England and has narrowly missed a hundred on each occasion. The first time, at The Oval in 2006, Pakistan refused to play in protest of ball-tampering allegations and England won by a forfeit. There were times when another Pakistan forfeit seemed to be England’s only chance of getting out of this one.Hafeez’s 88 spanned four hours. He had a century for the taking when he swept in ungainly fashion at a floated delivery from Graeme Swann and was struck on the boot. He opted for the DRS in the belief that he might have got outside the line, but umpire Bruce Oxenford’s decision was narrowly upheld.Swann’s two wickets provided a necessary lift. His personal battle with Ajmal is expected to be one of the decisive duels of the series and Ajmal’s seven wickets, perhaps five of them gifted by England’s batsmen, invited excessive expectations on a sedate pitch. He was in his 14th over when Hafeez fell and his previous over had disappeared for 13, including a slog-sweep for six by the same batsman.England’s challenge in the first session rested with Stuart Broad. Taufeeq might have been run out on 38 when Ian Bell, from square leg and with one stump to aim at, narrowly missed. Instead, Broad struck 21 overs into the second day when Taufeeq was bowled by an excellent delivery from around the wicket that held its line to strike off stump.Broad’s emotions had swirled quite differently the previous ball. Hafeez, on 52, mishooked a bouncer towards short midwicket where Chris Tremlett made ponderous progress, dived and dropped it. Broad flashed one of his Draco Malfoy looks and it was a wonder that Tremlett did not turn to stone. Perhaps Broad imagined that he already had.There was much of Malfoy in Broad’s morning. There normally is. Andrew Strauss is a captain who has learned to resist Broad’s glowers whenever he wants an appeal referred to the third umpire. In his second over of the morning, he nipped one back to strike Hafeez on the pad, but Strauss resisted his overtures and the television replay proved him right.Ten minutes from lunch, Broad nipped one back to Younis Khan, still on nought, and pressed Strauss to refer the lbw appeal. The captain smiled benignly. The replay showed the ball was too high. As one observer has memorably observed, Broad indulges in L’Oréal appeals – because he is worth it. Broad’s second wicket, Azhar Ali, came earlier in the same over, a hint of away movement enough to find the outside edge.Dubai was a world away from the first Test of the last series between these sides: Trent Bridge 2010, where the ball hooped around for England’s swing bowlers and Pakistan were hustled out in no time for 182 and 80 on their way to a 354-run defeat.England have nine players remaining from that Test, Ian Bell and Chris Tremlett being the only additions; Pakistan have nine missing, all bar Umar Gul and Azhar. The restructuring of Pakistan’s Test side has gone far beyond the replacement of the three players jailed for spot-fixing. Salman Butt’s Pakistan has been virtually scrubbed from memory.England had a bonus shortly before tea, when Jonathan Trott cut one back sharply to have Younis lbw, so adding him to Jahurul Islam, of Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka’s Tharanga Paranavitana as one of his three Test victims.They only collected one wicket with the second new ball, Jimmy Anderson having Asad Shafiq caught at the wicket, when they needed to turn the match. Misbah nudged here, nurdled there and pulled a few faces. The scoring-rate fell from 3.5 runs per over in the morning to barely two in the final session. But England got him in the end and will believe this Test is not over yet.

Danish Kaneria has said that he is prepared to appear before an integrity committee of the Pakistan board to try to save his cricket career

David Hopps21-Feb-2012Danish Kaneria has said that he is prepared to appear before an integrity committee of the Pakistan board to try to save his cricket career in the wake of the Mervyn Westfield spot-fixing trial.Westfield, the former Essex seam bowler, was jailed for four months at the Old Bailey last week and Kaneria was identified by his defence solicitor, Mark Milliken-Smith QC, as the Essex team-mate who introduced him to the murky world of cricket corruption. Already excluded from the Pakistan side, he faces the possibility of a life ban in all forms of cricket.”Whenever the PCB integrity committee calls me, I will present myself, as I always have,” Kaneria said. “After that whatever happens, I will see about that later.” He refused to answer whether he would return to England if asked to face an ECB disciplinary committee.Kaneria, speaking at the tea interval at the Gaddafi Stadium, where he was captaining Sind in the final of the Pentangular Trophy, waved a letter from the ICC, dated November 2010, that he said stated that the ICC’s anti-corruption unit (ACSU) was not actively investigating him – a letter that has become his main refuge as allegations have stacked up against him.ICC sources have since formally advised the ECB and PCB that their letter in no way exonerated Kaneria but simply stated that the investigation was in the hands of Essex Police, and that any clearance certificate was a matter for the PCB.Essex Police did not charge him because of insufficient evidence as Westfield changed his plea to guilty after Kaneria had returned to Pakistan. Allegations made against Kaneria at the Old Bailey were made not by Westfield himself, who has never given evidence, but by his solicitor.”I have also presented this letter to the PCB’s integrity committee,” Kaneria said. “The letter says clearly the ICC neither issues any clearance nor is any player required to obtain such clearance from the ICC. I have this letter, which also says ‘the ICC ACSU is not conducting any investigation of your client under the ICC anti-corruption law.’ “”I want to clarify these points because the media has [misquoted] me a little by saying I said I have a clearance letter from the ICC. What I have is a letter from the ICC.”Kaneria was asked if he knew the bookmaker, Arun Bhatia, who was named in court as an alleged accomplice. “No,” he said.With inputs from Umar Farooq

Chris Cairns, the former New Zealand allrounder, was a convenient “scapegoat” for corrupt activity in the Indian Cricket League (ICL) the High Court has heard

Alan Gardner at the Royal Courts of Justice16-Mar-2012Chris Cairns, the former New Zealand allrounder, was a convenient “scapegoat” for corrupt activity in the Indian Cricket League (ICL) and the claims against him betrayed a “serial inconsistency of the fundamental kind”, the High Court has heard on the final day of Cairns’ libel action against Lalit Modi.”Mr Cairns’ future and his past achievements are on the line,” Andrew Caldecott QC said. “The allegations against him are wholly untrue and the evidence against him lacking.”Cairns is suing Modi, the former IPL commissioner, over a 2010 tweet that alleged his involvement in match-fixing – claims that Cairns has vigorously contested in court.Summing up for Cairns, Caldecott said that the case made against his client was “back to front”, consisting of contradictory statements, poorly recorded events and a flawed investigation. The evidence, Caldecott said, “all points to Mr Cairns being made a scapegoat of convenience.”He suggested the case put forward by the defence that Cairns had lied about his involvement in corruption was “miles away” from being proven and described some of the evidence as “demonstrably false”. Modi’s defence have previously claimed that the “thrust” of the allegations against Cairns was consistent.Caldecott also questioned the “wholly implausible” suggestion that an offer was made that Cairns be confronted by the players who had accused him of fixing at the hotel meeting that led to his dismissal from the ICL. He criticised the decision of Howard Beer, the ICL’s anti-corruption officer, to tell Cairns’ successor as Chandigarh Lions captain, Andrew Hall, that the investigation had been sound and that Cairns was involved, despite Beer’s own concerns.The insinuation that payments made to Cairns by a diamond trader were anything other than a business deal between friends, “doesn’t amount to a row of beans,” Caldecott added.After the closing arguments were made, judge David Bean asked for submissions from both sides on potential damages, should he find in favour of Cairns. Before retiring to begin his deliberations, Bean said that he would try to deliver a written verdict by the end of the month.

Fluent strokeplay has not been top of the agenda in this series and the opening day in Port-of-Spain was another where the batsmen had to grind for their rewards

The Report by Andrew McGlashan15-Apr-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShane Watson worked very hard for his 56 before falling to Shane Shillingford•AFP

Fluent strokeplay has not been top of the agenda in this series and the opening day in Port-of-Spain was another where the batsmen had to grind for their rewards. With that in mind, Australia were better placed than 208 for 5 might imply but West Indies ensured they stayed within range with Shane Shillingford, the tall offspinner, impressive on his return to Test cricket.The turn that Shillingford – and, to a lesser extent, Narsingh Deonarine – found on a first-day pitch suggested that anything around 300 would be a good total while Australia have two frontline spinners to exploit conditions after recalling Michael Beer to partner Nathan Lyon. Once the hardness had gone from the ball, which allowed Australia to reach 42 after 10 overs, the remaining 80 overs of the day brought 166 runs with West Indies opting not to take the second new ball.Shane Watson was the mainstay of the innings for more than three hours as he ground his way to a half-century from 128 balls. Boundary opportunities had been rare for Watson, and mostly came when the quick bowlers offered width, before he got an inside edge to short leg where it was superbly held by Adrian Barath who had to reach upwards for the catch.It was a deserved second wicket for Shillingford, who earlier struck fifth delivery playing his first Test since remodelling his bowling action, after he had twice been denied the opportunity to double his tally. Once that was by technology and another by the inconsistent glovework of Carlton Baugh, who dropped Michael Hussey when he had 5 from one which turned sharply to take the glove.Shortly after tea Shillingford was awarded an lbw against Michael Clarke but the Australia captain reviewed, by the looks of it at the time more out of hope than expectation. However, the replays showed he had been struck outside off stump on the back pad so survived and even shared his slight surprise with the close fielders.Clarke couldn’t cash in on the reprieve when he managed to pull a long hop from Deonarine to deep square-leg having briefly provided the most fluent batting of the day when he took the attack to Kemar Roach at the start of the final session. Roach, who had earlier collected the important wickets of Ed Cowan and Ricky Ponting, was more than twice as expensive as any other of the bowlers and offered Clarke width to drive as the fourth-wicket stand with Watson grew to 84.Soon, though. Australia had to rebuild again and without Ryan Harris or Peter Siddle in the lower order – the former surprisingly rested, the latter suffering a stiff back – there is a longer tail than in Barbados when they hauled the visitors out of trouble and into the ascendency. But with Michael Hussey still present West Indies could yet rue Baugh’s mistake. Matthew Wade was also put down, on 2, although the chance to Kraigg Braithwaite at short leg was tough.West Indies thought they had taken a wicket in the first over the day when David Warner was given out caught behind by the umpire Marais Erasmus before Darren Sammy indicated the ball had not carried to the keeper. That was clearly the case and replays also showed it was also nowhere near the edge but if Erasmus had given the decision as lbw on-field it would have stood.After that early intrigue Australia moved along at a healthy rate as both Warner and Cowan latched onto anything short, although Warner also had to battle to survive against Roach when the fast bowler went round the wicket and probed the outside edge. It was Shillingford who provided the breakthrough with his fifth ball when he enticed Warner to drive at a full delivery which spun enough to find the edge and Sammy pocketed a simple catch at slip.Shortly before lunch Cowan was extracted lbw from around the wicket by Roach, who then added Ponting in the sixth over of the afternoon session with a beauty to square up the batsman and find the outside edge. However, the wicket did not come easily as Baugh palmed the chance away but, fortunately for the home side, Sammy was alert at slip to collect the rebound.