All posts by csb10.top

After being bowled out for less than one hundred twice in its 1-3 series loss to England earlier this year, it was always argued that it was West Indies’ batting that was likely to shape as its biggest problem on this Australian tour.Come next week and the first Test meeting between them and Australia, though, batting may well constitute only so much as half of the tourists’ dilemmas.At least, that is what their performance suggested today in the first-class match against Victoria at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.After keeping the tourists to an inadequate 167 in the first innings yesterday – a total that could have been significantly smaller had number eight batsman Mahendra Nagamootoo not shown the resistance that allowed him to score a defiant forty-eight – the Victorian batsmen today did it easily, ending the day 137 runs ahead with seven wickets in hand. At stumps on day two, Victoria is very comfortably placed at 3/304.Led by Brad Hodge (134*) and Jason Arnberger (99), the Bushrangers performed in a manner that belied their bottom placing on the domestic first-class competition ladder. Here was a team that had lost each of its first two Pura Cup matches of the season by huge margins. Yet today, it managed to make its international opposition look completely underdone. With due credit to the Victorians, this arguably says more about the standard of West Indian cricket than about Australia’s own national competition.Following their forgettable batting performance yesterday, vice-captain Sherwin Campbell had hoped a solid showing with the ball would be the confidence builder from which the West Indians could draw inspiration in the second innings. Unfortunately, his bowlers, for the most part, were disappointing.Nixon McLean, tipped to be Courtney Walsh’s opening bowling partner in next week’s Test in Brisbane, was punished heavily. In the last session of the day, by way of example, the tall right armer went for twenty-three runs off four overs.Nevertheless, it has to be said that he was a little unlucky. After capturing the early wicket of Shawn Craig (1), he should have had the scalp of Matthew Mott (18) alongside his name as well, but a cut shot from the nuggety right hander was dropped by Daren Ganga at gully with his score on a mere three.This was not the only chance missed by the West Indian fielders. Michael Klinger (38*) would have been out at sixteen but for a miss at slip by Campbell. Instead, Klinger and Hodge made light work of their opponents, hitting them to all parts of the ground with ease in a fluent display.Before Klinger, it was Arnberger who had aided Hodge in the task of overtaking the Windies’ first innings total. The pair added 121 runs for the third wicket in 132 minutes, sailing past the tourists’ score when Hodge lofted leg-spinner Nagamootoo (0/61 off fourteen overs) over the long-off fence. Clearly, it had been that sort of a day for them.Walsh was the best of the West Indian attack, with 1/44 off 23 overs. Today’s wicket-takers, McLean and Merv Dillon, returned 1/78 off twenty-one overs and 1/75 off twenty-three respectively.At the end of the day, Windies’ coach Roger Harper said it had been a difficult one for his team. “Tough is an understatement. Three hundred runs in a day is a lot more than we would’ve liked, a lot more than we wanted, a lot more than the goal we set ourselves in allowing them to score. And wecould have done a lot, lot better. We weren’t consistent, we weren’t accurate enough, we bowled both sides of the wicket and they just took advantage of it,” he said.”In the context of the way the game is played these days, you expect teams to score somewhere in the region of two and a half runs an over. But to score over three runs an over, especially against our attack, which is a Test attack, is much too many. It’s simple, the consistency wasn’t there and thepatience wasn’t there and that was about it. We never really got the ball in the right place,” he said.Compounding the West Indians’ problems is an injury to captain Jimmy Adams, who was hit on the nose by a Marlon Black delivery this morning in the nets. Adams, who was on and off the field today, will hopefully be fit to fully resume tomorrow.If he is, he will be captaining a team which, in Harper’s words, has “no choice but to come out and play good cricket.”Harper admitted the team is under-prepared for the Test series. “We may have wanted another match to prepare ourselves but this is the itinerary we’ve been set and we have to make the most of it and be as well prepared as we can. And I don’t think we gave the performance in this match so far thatwould say to anyone that we are a team fully prepared to go into a Test match,” he said.

Richard Johnson is undergoing tests on Monday and Tuesday and if he comes though these then he will play at The Oval on Wednesday.Keith Parsons is still suffering with his knee, and played in the second XI match against Surrey at The County Ground last week. However he has still not recovered and he is now having tests for a torn cartilage.Graham Rose is also still suffering with his knee.

The Somerset Board Eleven set off for Lakenham today for their second round match on Thursday against Norfolk in the 2002 Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy.Before they set off team manager Peter Robinson told me, “It will be a tough game. Norfolk are a strong team and have just won the 38 county competition and beaten Holland, so we will have our work cut out.”The Somerset team that travelled to Norwich is, Kevin Parsons (Captain)Brian Hoyle, Kevin Sedgebeer, Matt Bulbeck, Matt Dimond (all Taunton St Andrew’s), Matt Gitsham (Wembdon), Michael Coles, Steve Davis (both Bridgwater), Gareth Andrew and Rob Travers (both Glastonbury) and Joe Tucker (Keynsham).If the Somerset Board Eleven are successful they will host a first class county in the next round, which will be played next season.Friday is the reserve day for the game should it be unfinished tomorrow.

In farcical proceedings at the Asgiriya International Stadium today,Nepal qualified for the Super League by virtue of a 14 run victoryagainst a devastated Kenyan side.Having bowled out Nepal for 107, Kenya contacted The ManagementCommittee of the U-19 World Cup to clarify what was required for entryinto the Super League. They were told that they needed to score theruns in just 17 overs. Thus the coach informed the players to attackthe bowling right from start. In the rush to score quick runs, Kenyalost early wickets. Reduced to 44-5 in the eigth over, the coachinformed the players to bat normally. It was too late. Kenya waseventually bowled out for 93.However the regulations state that when points are equal, the firstdeciding factor should be the number of wins. If Kenya had won, theywould have gone through to the Super League. Whilst the Kenyamanagement will have to share some of the blame for this unfortunateincident for not clarifying the position earlier, The ManagementCommittee too will have to accept responsibility for giving erroneousinformation at a such a crucial moment.In another extraordinary incident, a Nepalese bowler broke the wicketin his delivery, dismissing Halali for a duck. When asked whether suchan act was in the spirit of the game the Nepalese manger said, “technically such a dismissal is out. You have to understand such anaction in a game of this importance.”However the batsmen was not warned first. Secondly the bails werebroken with his right hand. Being a left arm bowler the Law stipulatesthat the left hand must break the wicket.Nepal will now face England, Sri Lanka and either India or NewZealand.

Scorecard3:54

Never underestimate enjoyment factor – Gillespie

Drenched in champagne glinting in the Lord’s sunshine, Andrew Gale proudly held aloft the County Championship trophy, a year to the day after the ECB had prevented him from doing so when Yorkshire were victorious last year. This was a triumph belated and deserved.Yet Gale considered it “bittersweet”. Blame Middlesex. They had displayed the temerity to ensure Gale’s celebrations came after an emphatic defeat, something that seemed unimaginable when Ryan Sidebottom consigned them to the wreckage of 0 for 3 one over into the opening day, or when Yorkshire secured a first innings lead of 193.”If you’re slightly off your game in this division that’s what happens,” Gale said. Here was a clarion cry from Middlesex, taking on the role of representative of the 17 counties – or at least the eight in the First Division – who do not sport the White Rose. The message was clear: the gap between Yorkshire and the rest is less insurmountable than a 26-match unbeaten run in Championship cricket, now at an end, suggests.Certainly that is the case when Toby Roland-Jones and James Harris summon performances as powerful as they mustered on the final two days against the champions. After adding 146 for the ninth wicket on the third day, now the two combined to decimate Yorkshire’s batting.Just as the final day of first-class cricket at Lord’s this season threatened to descend into a somnolent wait for Gale to lift the crown, Roland-Jones and Harris located late reverse swing and a lethal line just outside offstump.Devastation ensued. Five wickets fell in 29 balls, testament to the vim with which Roland-Jones and Harris bowled.Roland-Jones was particularly outstanding. Bounding in with pace and bounce, he bowled 21 overs of unerring intensity. He claimed 5 for 27, every wicket caught between keeper and fourth slip. On a pitch that had seemed increasingly pallid, Roland-Jones located a toxic cocktail of reverse swing away from the right-hander and lift outside offstump.”It’s something that’s been coming for a while. I’ve by no means been bowling badly, but just haven’t had that real match-deciding spell which can really define a bowler. It’s nice to feel that’s come at last,” Roland-Jones said. “It was probably the most rhythm I’ve had all year – running in just felt a little bit more effortless. I wasn’t really stretching or straining, and the line I bowled was telling.”Together with his maiden first-class century, the upshot was one of the most satisfying victories of his career and Roland-Jones’ finest individual performance: “I don’t think I’ve done anything that comes close.” On this evidence it would be folly were he not seriously considered for an England Lions recall.Harris was scarcely less impressive, Middlesex’s penultimate match of the season continuing his stirring revival as a cricketer. When he left Glamorgan three years ago, Harris was so in-demand that 11 counties attempted to sign him. He signed for Middlesex because Harris believed it would maximise his chances of playing Test cricket. The England selectors told Harris he needed to locate extra pace, so he went to the national academy in Loughborough in search of it.It did not work. All Harris achieved was to lose the swing that had enticed Middlesex in the first place. His confidence went too, and last year Harris even returned to Glamorgan on loan in an attempt to relocate it.Now he is the second highest wicket-taker in Division One, behind only Chris Rushworth. Harris showed why by swinging the new ball away from Adam Lyth and Gary Ballance just enough to invite the edge and then returning to aid Roland-Jones in the evisceration of Yorkshire’s batting.So crushing was this victory that it was enough to invite the question of how great the gulf between Yorkshire and the rest. “I wouldn’t say there’s a massive gap. We’ve just managed to play some very good cricket. We saw today – we got thumped so it’s hard for me to tell you how big the gap is,” Jason Gillespie said. Middlesex have now beaten Yorkshire at Lord’s in consecutive seasons, and were also tenacious in defeat at Headingley this year.A year ago Middlesex’s summer ended with a display of resolve at Old Trafford to protect their Division One status. In any context 2015 has been a quietly formidable in red ball cricket: 15 games have yielded seven victories and only one defeat. Middlesex have done it all while overcoming significant obstacles. Adam Voges’ late-blooming Test career upset their overseas plans, while the upshot of reinvigorating Steve Finn has been to lose him to England.No wonder there was such an air of contentment as the members lauded Middlesex’s efforts at Lord’s this season. Yorkshire remain county cricket’s outstanding team, but Middlesex, who were the last county to beat them in the Championship, also at Lord’s, now have only to navigate a trip to New Road to prove themselves most-deserving runners-up.

On the Wantage Road outfield, the selection chairman Rod Marsh and the coach Darren Lehmann exchanged frank words with Australia’s 2015 Ashes tourists. For around 15 minutes the two old salts spoke passionately, in the sort of team discussion that invariably follows the kinds of defeats endured at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge. The only response could be seen coming from Mitchell Johnson, now very much the senior man in the Test XI.The retiring captain Michael Clarke is in London, Ryan Harris and Brad Haddin have gone home. They leave a gulf in experience and knowledge, but also confidence arising from their long-time ability to get the job done for Australia.Marsh and Lehmann want Clarke to be suitably farewelled from international cricket at the Kia Oval, but they also want this team to take something from the series. They want this latest Ashes defeat in England to be the last for some time.Of those present, none of Johnson, Chris Rogers, Shane Watson, Peter Siddle, Adam Voges, Fawad Ahmed or Shaun Marsh can reasonably expect to take part in another Ashes series on these shores. Lehmann and Marsh are unlikely to be around either. But among the more intent listeners was the young allrounder Mitchell Marsh, who was left out of the team for Trent Bridge but is determined to draw triumph out of the chaos of this trip.”As an Australian team you go out to win every Test match, and even though the series is over we’ve got a lot to play for in this match as everyone knows,” Marsh said. “To send our skipper out on a winning note is a big emphasis for us, so we’ll be doing everything we can. We’ve been working extremely hard off the field to try and get it right on the field and it just hasn’t happened for us. So we’ll be doing everything we can.”Marsh, who can expect to be recalled at the Oval, has always been a confident character, backing his ability against anyone. But his exposure to the harshest light of Ashes pressure gave him pause to consider his readiness for it, and by his own admission both his dismissals at Edgbaston were illustrative of a young player not quite knowing how to respond to a seaming pitch, a baying crowd and a tense match scenario.Asked whether the pressure of the occasion had weighed down on his batting, Marsh offered the following. “Missing straight ones is not what you want to do, and chasing one a foot outside off third ball is not what you want to do,” he said.” Read into that what you want.”It certainly was an eye-opener. When I first got picked in the Test team Justin Langer said from Australian first-class cricket the step up is not that much bigger. It’s more just the outside pressure and the pressure of being in a Test match. Edgbaston was certainly the first time I really felt the pressure of a whole Test match … but I enjoyed it and I loved it, not that I was out there for too long.”That’s what you play for, that’s what you work hard for, to try and combat those times. It was certainly a great experience and hopefully I’ll be better for that in big moments in future.”The future stretches out ahead of Marsh, with the calendar offering non-stop international cricket for those good enough to handle those aforementioned pressures. But there is also a question of priorities – the fame and cash presented by the IPL, or the more modest surrounds of English County competition and a rounded education in how to bat and bowl here. Marsh is eager to take the latter path. Six Tests over the past 12 months will afford him the visa qualification to do so.”That’s something I’ve wanted to do over the past few years,” he said. “Now that I do qualify over the next few years hopefully it gives me an opportunity to come over here and play as much cricket as I can to prepare for coming years. Hopefully over the next few years I’ll be playing for Australia and won’t get too much time, but when the time does come hopefully I’ll be able to get over here.”To be able to learn my trade in these conditions would be awesome. Everyone that comes over here says that it’s awesome for your cricket. Hopefully that’s the case for me. I’ve probably put IPL on the back stall for the past few years and I’ve seen the gains in my cricket from that. It will be a case of judging it when it comes and seeing what happens in the future.”Rod Marsh and Darren Lehmann certainly had the future on their minds as they addressed the team at Wantage Road. The content of the exchange will remain between players and selectors for now. Only the years will measure whether this moment will be of great significance for Mitchell Marsh and other young players, or simply a show of passion too late to change the course of the summer of 2015.

Match facts

Friday, October 2, 2015
Start time 1900 local (1330 GMT)4:33

Agarkar: Would like to see Aravind play SA

Big Picture

We are here, finally. The most anticipated series alongside the Ashes, at least as far as South Africans are concerned, has arrived. It has been a long time coming if you consider that in 2013, India were initially scheduled to visit South Africa for a lengthy period of time but boardroom battles saw the tour cut short. Now, compensation has come.South Africa are on their longest-ever tour of India, which will stretch over 72 days and will include their first four-Test series in five years, since the 2009-10 home series against England. Sensibly, the tour has been structured so that main attraction takes place last, after the teams have both acclimatised and sussed each other out. That’s what these opening rounds are for.The T20s have the added purpose of serving as preparation for next year’s World T20, which will be played in India. For South Africa, it is the ideal way to strategise for the tournament, and will give them an opportunity to see whether they need to make changes in personnel or game plans as they go in search of ICC silverware, yet again. For India, it is a return to a format they have not seen much of in the last year, with ODIs and Test cricket dominating their schedule. They may not need to plan with regard to conditions as much as other teams – the World T20 is taking place in their home after all – but they will want to kickstart a period of consistency in the build-up.For cricket supporters, it barely gets much bigger than this. Rankings aside – India sit at fourth and South Africa have slumped to sixth on the T20 charts – the rivalry between these two sides always makes for riveting viewing. Sit back and enjoy.

Form guide

India LWLLW (last five completed games most recent first)
South Africa LWWWW

In the spotlight

Axar Patel was the second highest wicket-taker in the recent triangular A series between India, South Africa and Australia and the highest wicket-taker in the unofficial Test series. He might be unleashed against the visitors given the perception that the South African middle-order is vulnerable against spin. Axar has played only two T20s, against Zimbabwe, and is the junior-most spinner in the India squad, but could use this opportunity to push for a place in next year’s World T20 plans.With Faf du Plessis fit to resume duties as captain, AB de Villiers will be able to assume his new role at the top of the order. South Africa’s new strategy seeks to give de Villiers as much batting time as possible and the ploy might work in India. De Villiers was the fourth highest run-scorer at this year’s IPL – the top-scorer for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, a team that also included Chris Gayle – with 513 from 14 innings at 46.63 – and seems to relish batting in the shortest format on the subcontinent. He may not have to keep wicket, if Quinton de Kock is given a chance to show whether he his lean run has ended but if Hashim Amla is preferred, de Villiers will have to perform a dual role.

Team news

MS Dhoni did not reveal much about his team combination, saying he would have to look at the conditions – especially the dew factor – on the evening of the game before deciding.India (probable): 1 Ajinkya Rahane, 2 Shikhar Dhawan 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suresh Raina, 5 MS Dhoni (capt, wk), 6 Rohit Sharma, 7 Stuart Binny, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Axar Patel/Harbhajan Singh, 10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 11 Mohit Sharma/S AravindAB de Villiers will open the batting with either Quinton de Kock or Hashim Amla, who joined the squad late and may need time to settle in. South Africa’s top four are familiar and solid, but David Miller, at No.5, will need to find form to avoid losing his place to the uncapped Khaya Zondo. Chris Morris will take over the allrounder’s role from the injured David Wiese, who had to withdraw from the squad, and will likely be one of four seamers in a young pace pack. There will probably only be room for one specialist spinner, with South Africa likely to give the experienced Imran Tahir a game ahead of Eddie Leie, who may get opportunity later in the series.South Africa (probable): 1 AB de Villiers, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Faf du Plessis (capt), 4 JP Duminy, 5 David Miller, 6 Farhaan Behardien, 7 Chris Morris, 8 Kagiso Rabada, 9 Kyle Abbott, 10 Marchant de Lange, 11 Imran Tahir

Pitch and conditions

Spin has been the buzzword from South Africa but the surfaces in the limited-overs series may not lend themselves to a significant amount of it. Instead, runs are going to be in abundance on surfaces the bowlers will have to work hard on. At least they will have one of the most picturesque backdrops in world cricket with the Himalayas providing the view. Already, South Africa’s squad have shared several pictures on social media expressing their awe at the environment in which the series opener will be played. The weather is expected to be mild, with temperatures at 25 degrees and cloudless skies, but dew could play a big role.

Stats and Trivia

• South Africa have never played a T20 in India
• India have won six of their eight T20 matches against South Africa, giving them a win/loss ratio of 3, way better than their win/loss ratio of 0.54 in Tests, and 0.62 in ODIs
• India have only played two T20s in the last 12 months. They were both against Zimbabwe where they won a game and lost a game
• Faf du Plessis is the leading scorer in T20 cricket this year with 252 runs in four matches at 84, including a century

Quotes

“I always found it most difficult switching from Tests to T20s, I always thought T20 to Test was relatively easy. When you switch from Test format to T20, the game demands you have to hit… so you want to have some kind of flow in your batting, you have to have that big swing, you don’t want to lose shape when hitting the ball.”
“I have learnt the most from India – just from general respect and treating people the way you do. Indian people, as a culture, are the friendliest people around.”

ScorecardJack Brooks collected his best match figures of 9 for 84•Getty Images

Yorkshire’s travelling supporters at Championship matches are a pleasant bunch of people. One might even call them the low-sodium salt of the earth. It is unthinkable that they would ever break into a chant as charmless as: “That’s why we’re champions.” Then again, on the third day of this match at New Road, Alex Lees’s players needed no one to trumpet their merits; they did the job perfectly themselves.Having conceded a first-innings lead of four runs and handicapped by the absence of Ryan Sidebottom with a calf injury, Yorkshire’s seamers performed as well as ever they did in their title-winning summer. On a pitch offering nothing but a pinch of assistance to the quicker bowlers, Jack Brooks and Tim Bresnan wrecked Worcestershire’s top order in just eight Test-class overs to leave Daryl Mitchell’s side languishing on 21 for 4.An hour’s determined resistance from flatmates Tom Fell and Tom Kohler-Cadmore and a few late blows from the tail elicited stoic cheers from home supporters but they did nothing whatever to colour the ultimate outcome. Steven Patterson rumbled in from the New Road End to remove Fell and Ben Cox in the same over just before lunch and then bowled meanly and straight after the resumption.One or two of Worcestershire’s lower-order batsmen may not be too happy with their choice of stroke but Patterson was cheerily content with their selections. The tall medium-pacer claimed career-best figures of 5 for 11, and while Jack Shantry whacked Bresnan for three off-side boundaries late in proceedings, last September’s hero could do nothing to rescue his side.All this took place on an April afternoon when Worcestershire’s demise offered a curious contrast to the almost magical portents of spring on the horse chestnut and copper beech. The many delights girding New Road deserved more than a three-day finish.Needing 105, Yorkshire completed their ten-wicket victory with dreamy ease in 17 overs at 3.42 pm and collected 22 points for their labours. Stand-in skipper Lees made an unbeaten 52 on his 22nd birthday; he may have better days in his career but few prouder ones. His opening partner Will Rhodes contributed a quietly impressive 45 not out on his Championship debut.The lazy-thinking critics of Division Two cricket will probably be quick to point their fingers at the failings of promoted Worcestershire’s batsmen when they study this game’s scorecard. This would be unfair on both sets of players. It is far too early to reach a judgement on the batsmen, one of whom, Tom Fell, scored a fine century in this match. Much more importantly, though, it would belittle the achievement of Brooks, whose second-innings 4 for 28 completed a career-best match return of 9 for 84, with seven of his victims top-six batsmen.Bowling with good pace and the sort of discipline a Calvinist might envy, Brooks first removed Moeen Ali when the England batsman could only edge a fine delivery to Jack Leaning at second slip; he then accounted for Mitchell with a brutal lifter which was fended to Lees at first slip; finally, he made Alex Gidman’s Worcestershire debut a miserable affair when he had the county’s new signing caught behind for 4.All this came on top of Bresnan’s removal of Richard Oliver in the third over when the opener shouldered arms to a ball that dipped in to him. Just after Gidman trooped up the steps of the pavilion, the bells of the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary began to toll for noon. Those who saw a deeper omen in the tintinnabulations were not far wrong. Brooks and Bresnan had barely bowled a bad ball in 13 overs.”There were a couple of little periods in the first innings when we let Worcestershire off the hook but Jack was fantastic today,” Yorkshire coach Jason Gillespie said. “Tim was excellent and then Steve Patterson just did his thing. He has that ability to hit that shoebox on a good length and ask questions of the batsman.”They took all our players away and banned our captain and we still came away with a ten-wicket victory,” continued Gillespie, referring to Andrew Gale’s enforced absence. “It’s one of the best wins I’ve been involved with in cricket.”For his part, Worcestershire coach Steve Rhodes paid justified tribute to the quality of the Yorkshire attack. “That first session really cost us but sometimes you just have to take your hat off to the opposition,” he said. “It was world-class Test-match bowling from Bresnan and Brooks and that could have destroyed a lot of batting line-ups. We’ll learn a lot from that, not just our batsmen, but our bowlers, too.”

Stephen Fleming, the former New Zealand captain, has urged his country’s cricket board to take a stance on touring Pakistan for the Champions Trophy in September, instead of leaving individual players to decide. It is understood that several high-profile players are likely to opt out of the tournament owing to security fears, after the ICC last week confirmed Pakistan as hosts.New Zealand are also scheduled to tour the country for a three-ODI series in August but that too looks in doubt.”I know I’d be reluctant if I was still there, although it’s tough to say categorically without being privy to the security reports circulated,” Fleming told .”But it’s only going to demean the tournament as a spectacle if three or four of the leading nations send second-string sides, which is why the national body needs to step in and make the decision.”Besides New Zealand, players from other leading teams like England, Australia and South Africa have expressed reservations over touring. The respective cricket boards are likely to take a final decision when the ICC-appointed task force carries out its security inspection after August 14th, when Pakistan celebrates its Independence Day.Fleming felt that New Zealand Cricket (NZC) was fortunate to have the backing of other leading teams on this issue.”It’s an unenviable position for New Zealand Cricket to be in, definitely,” Fleming said. “It’s a situation we’ve been in before, when we refused to play in Kenya [at the 2003 World Cup], although back then New Zealand was on its own standing up to the ICC.”This time we have some fairly hefty weight behind us in the form of Australia and England, which significantly changes the landscape and any potential repercussions.”He did however sympathise with Pakistan, which has experienced several bomb blasts in major cities over the last few months. India, too, was affected by blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad but there have been no reports yet of Australia or England cancelling or postponing their respective tours of the country later this year.”I know the situation might not be 100% there, but there’s constant bomb blasts in India, and Sri Lanka’s reputation [when it comes to terrorism] is hardly squeaky-clean,” he said. “You’ve got to wonder if Pakistan aren’t questioning why they’re the only ones being singled out.”The Champions Trophy is scheduled between September 11 and 28 in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi.

Ramnaresh Sarwan described his first Test century as the West Indies captain as “very special” after the effort helped his team secure a draw that could easily have been a loss. His 128 did not stop Australia regaining the Frank Worrell Trophy but the fierce resistance put up by Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul gives West Indies confidence heading to the third Test in Barbados, which should feature Chanderpaul despite the batsman carrying a calf niggle in Antigua.West Indies began the final day chasing 372 for a highly unlikely win and Sarwan went out all guns blazing in the first session, racing to 64 at lunch with front-foot drives and brave cuts in the air as he aimed to put Australia on the defensive. But a fired-up Brett Lee picked up two early wickets, giving Australia an air of self-belief, and Sarwan said his main goal was to get through the difficult period without going into his shell.”We needed to survive that but at the same time we needed to be positive,” Sarwan said after the match. “Our focus was to take every session as it is.”The early stumbles forced a rethink after the break and a cooler Sarwan became much more solid in defence, leading his side by example. His previous three Tests as captain had not been personally productive – he had made 54 in three innings and severely injured his shoulder in one match – but this time with the rock solid Chanderpaul he built a match-saving 143-run partnership.Chanderpaul’s calm display was the latest in a long line of super efforts; he already has two centuries in the series and his unbeaten 77 means his Test average in the past 12 months is 106.20. Sarwan said Chanderpaul’s recent form beggared belief. “It’s very hard to find words to describe,” Sarwan said. “Over the past few years he’s shown his consistency and he’s getting better with age. Hopefully we can learn from him.”Chanderpaul scored largely through his trademark deflections and glances, occasionally driving or pulling when the bowlers erred, and he said the goal was playing for time. “We had a plan, bat session by session, don’t play nothing too rash, just play safe,” Chanderpaul said. “Try to stay as long as possible out here.”Although he had a slight limp during the match Chanderpaul expects to play in the series finale, which starts in Barbados on June 12. “[It’s] just a little bit of strain in the calf,” he said. “Should be okay, [we have] about eight days to prepare for the next game, so I should be all right.”