Hampshire’s 1973 Championship winning side admired the current crop of county cricketers as Rob Keogh made a double-century and Jimmy Adams reminded the locals of another famous left-hander that once played for the county

Ivo Tennant at the Ageas Bowl04-Sep-2013
ScorecardJimmy Adams provided Hampshire supporters with memories of another left-hander to have played for the club•Getty Images

The Ageas Bowl was awash with emotion. Opening batsmen came and went, but staying for some while. They were besieged by middle-aged autograph hunters who were quite prepared to wait all day to snare the individuals whom they had admired for many a year. And that was just the action in the suite in the Shane Warne Stand.Hampshire’s 1973 Championship winning side, Barry Richards and Gordon Greenidge among them, were being feted at a Forty Years On reunion, caps, claret and all. It is the nature of such occasions that there is no time to observe what is going on in the middle, for techniques to be properly examined. There are simply too many old friends with whom to enjoy social intercourse.A pity in a way, because the two main innings were played by the Hampshire captain, another left-handed batsman of the same standing in the game as his predecessor of that era, Richard Gilliat, and a 21-year-old who is just starting out on his career, as all those familiar names once did themselves. Jimmy Adams made an unbeaten 71 and Robert Keogh, whose previous highest score was 44, 221.It would have been fascinating to hear what Richards would have made of Keogh. He would have admired the unwavering concentration, the correct strokeplay, the ability to make such a large score when Keogh had not remained at the crease hitherto for anything like so long as 473 minutes. Keogh and Matt Spriegel took their overnight unbeaten stand to 187 in 56 overs before the latter was well taken by Michael Bates in front of first slip off James Tomlinson. His 76 included eight fours.Keogh, dropped badly at cover on 169 off David Balcombe, reached his double century with a pulled four off the same bowler, his 29th, and was undeterred while wickets fell about him until he was last out, caught and bowled by Liam Dawson off a leading edge. The pitch, so helpful to the new ball bowlers on the first morning, was by now offering nothing in the way of lateral movement. A batsman of resolve and talent, which is clearly what Keogh is, can stay in for a long while.Bates brought off another fine catch, left handed down the leg side, to account for Trent Copeland, to hand a third wicket to Ruel Brathwaite, who has bowled well enough to have been given a contract next season. He will be a handy replacement for David Griffiths, who is leaving for Kent.Matt Coles, whose future is yet to be determined, accounted for Jon Batty, of whom much the same could be said, although at the stage of his cricket career that he has reached, that scarcely matters. Bates, keeping wicket on account of Adam Wheater playing as a specialist batsman, finished with six catches.Hampshire, then, had to contend with a total of 438. Michael Roberts was soon bowled by Steven Crook, but Adams remained for the remainder of the day, as steadfast as Keogh had been earlier. He worked the ball around the square in characteristic style, occasionally unfurling an off drive that split the cover ring. By the close, when the party in the Warne Stand was still going strong, Dawson had hoiked Spriegel to midwicket, the captain had struck 14 fours.

Akram Khan, the former Bangladesh captain, has resigned from his position as chief selector, a week before his contract was to expire

Mohammad Isam25-Sep-2013Akram Khan, the former Bangladesh captain, has resigned from his position as chief selector, a week before his contract was to expire. The announcement came following Chittagong Divisional Sports Association’s decision to nominate him as its councillor ahead of the BCB elections, which is likely to be held in the first week of October. He has been a selector since 2007, and became the chief selector in 2011.Akram will continue in his role till the home series against New Zealand ends in early November, by a special arrangement.”I sent my resignation letter on September 18, and it is up to the BCB to accept it,” Akram told reporters. “My extended contract ends this month. But I have volunteered to work during the New Zealand series because [selector Minhazul Abedin] is performing the Hajj during this time. Otherwise, we would be down to one selector – Habibul Bashar.”We will announce the Bangladesh team within the next two days. There won’t be too many changes, as I have always maintained. The average age of our side is 25, so they can play together for another eight to ten years. So there will [be] very little change in this series, if any.”Akram, a former Bangladesh captain, will not only hold voting power as a councillor but he will contest the election for the position of a director. This is why he has to leave his position as a BCB employee as it is illegal for them to contest an election.He is one of 71 councillors from divisional and district associations, who will elect 10 BCB directors. There are 58 councillors from the Dhaka clubs who will elect 12 directors while in the third category, forty-five councillors from various organisations including education boards, BKSP, police, etc, will elect one director. The National Sports Council, the country’s regulatory board for sports, will nominate three directors from 15 councillors, which includes ten former cricketers.The cricketers are former national captains Khaled Mahmud and Gazi Ashraf Hossain, Shahedur Rahman, Dr Asaduzzaman Misha, Mohammad Ali, Ahsanullah Hasan, Hannan Sarkar, Salim Shahed, Niamur Rashid and ASM Faruque. Meanwhile, BCB president Nazmul Hassan has also picked five former captains in his quota of councillors – Shamim Kabir, Roquibul Hasan, Shafiqul Haque Heera, Faruque Ahmed and Khaled Mashud. Bangladesh’s first Test captain Naimur Rahman is also among the representatives, having claimed the councillroship from his native Manikganj district.This year’s election will have the most number of cricketers as councillors.

Peter Moores has hinted that Jonathan Trott will retain his place in the England side for the third Test of the series against West Indies

George Dobell26-Apr-2015England coach Peter Moores has hinted that Jonathan Trott will retain his place in the side for the third Test of the series against West Indies.Trott made 59 in the first innings in Grenada as England posted their first century opening stand for more than two years. But he was out for a duck in the second innings, meaning he had failed in three of his four innings since returning to the side in a new role at the top of the order.With time running out to blood other options before the Ashes – after this Test in Barbados, England will play two against New Zealand before the Ashes begins – some critics have urged the selectors to give Adam Lyth an opportunity.But Moores suggested that Trott is gradually rediscovering the form that once made him the ICC’s world player of the year and warned that Lyth – and other members of the squad – could be destined for a frustrating tour.

Peter Moores on…

• Adil Rashid: “I understand Yorkshire want him back and I understand where they’re coming from. They’ve lost a lot of players and Ryan Sidebottom is injured. But the key thing is to put England first. Adil has worked hard to get his chance in the squad. I really feel that by keeping him here he’s got a chance of playing in Barbados and he’s around the international set-up and bowling at top-flight players. Anyone who looks at our spin department knows we’re not overloaded. And when he does go back to Yorkshire he will feel like he’s taken his game forward.”

• Ben Stokes: “Ben is very much his own man. I wouldn’t want to change him in any way. He looks for opportunities to put people under pressure. For all players, they’re trying to find the mood or the mode that they’re best in to perform at their best. You’re always trying to find an edge. And what you’ve seen with Ben is he’s started to become more controlled and calm down in how he goes about it, but still keep that aggression. You had to smile at the incident between Ben and Marlon Samuels in some ways.”

• Joe Root: “On a slow pitch Joe scored at a faster rate than anyone else in the game and the tempo he is playing at is great for the batter at the other end. He is hungry and keeps things ticking over. He is in a really good patch of form and that is to be cashed in on when you’ve got it. Just stay in the moment for as long as possible.”

“I thought Trott played really well in the first innings,” Moores said. “I think he played beautifully. In the second innings, he got out to his third or fourth ball. It happens. It can happen to anyone.”But what we saw in the first innings was Jonathan Trott playing like Jonathan Trott. I think he would admit that in Antigua he hadn’t quite got himself where he wanted to be.”I don’t think his temperament changed, for me it was more of a technical thing. He was overbalancing in Antigua so he wasn’t quite getting where he wanted to be with the ball.”He sorted that out, and I thought the partnership between him and Cook was a really good partnership. So I think he’ll come out of that Test match thinking: ‘yeah, actually I feel in good nick. I feel like I’ve got myself going’.”Moores was also keen to point out that the England team already contained several young or relatively inexperienced players making their way at Test level – the likes of Ben Stokes, Gary Ballance, Moeen Ali, Jos Buttler, Chris Jordan and Joe Root – and that it was important to retain an experienced spine in the side.”Bringing players in is quite a fine balance,” he said. “You want them to be playing in a winning side and they’ve got to have earned the right to play and be given a chance. We’ve looked at quite a lot of new players already and have probably got six or seven starting to emerge.”Getting in a Test team is hard and they – those players who have yet to feature in the Test team – might not play a Test in this series. They’ve got to work really hard to get in and once you get in you’ve got to work hard to take your chance.”Of course there’s development to think about and there’s a lot of Tests coming up. But often that progression is quite natural. Bowlers get injuries, get tired and others get chances. Chris Woakes has been injured and Ben Stokes has come in so it becomes quite natural.”England arrived in Barbados on Sunday in fine spirits. Buoyed by what Moores termed “a great win” – and while the opposition may be somewhat modest, the conditions were anything but – there was a sense of “euphoria” throughout the travelling party, which now includes family members and girlfriends. A well deserved break – they will next train on Wednesday – looms.”It felt like a reward for all the hard work that you’ve seen going on by the players and the coaches,” he said. “It all comes through and you can feel the euphoria of the win. It is a great release. It was fantastic, and it was great to see everybody enjoying themselves.”Central to the victory was James Anderson’s fifth-day spell with the second new ball. Anderson had been largely anonymous in the match up to that point but, with the game drifting to a draw, produced a vintage spell of bowling that cut through the cream of West Indies batting and set up the result.”It was a world-class spell of bowling,” Moores said. “The areas he bowled, the plans he delivered, the pace he bowled – I think he bowled close to 90mph – was Jimmy at his best. And on that sort of pitch you need a world-class performer to open the game up.”I’m not surprised. It was a great advocate of what playing for your country means. He found something in him that pushed him to another level. He was like a youngster again.”He needed something. Because if you look at the wickets, often it was when someone really got to the top with their pace that they did well. Stuart Broad in the first innings really clicked. It was a very tough pitch to bowl on.”England will name a fresh looking ODI side on Tuesday. James Taylor is expected to be named as captain, with Sam Billings among those likely to win a call-up, and Alex Hales and Jason Roy featuring in an aggressive batting line-up. Matt Dunn and Mark Foottitt are among the bowlers under consideration.”Honestly, our one-day cricket has been in a backwater for a while,” Moores admitted. “The rest of the world have moved on. People have talked about that, I think they’re right.”We’ve got to catch up on that side, try and run two different things. But they’re nearly two different games. You watch the last 10 overs of a one-day international now, the way people bat is different to anything else.”That’s no excuse. This winter we didn’t play well enough. We were better than how we performed, I think. But it’s great to see us get back to Test match cricket and start to play well and build on that with a lot of Test match cricket coming.”

Now that the emotional tide has settled somewhat, both Pakistan and Zimbabwe will feel they can get down to business

The Preview by Firdose Moonda23-May-2015

Match facts

Sunday, May 24, 2015
Start time 1900 local (1400GMT)

Big picture

Something would have seemed amiss had the first match of Pakistan’s return home ended in anything other than victory for them. They chased down 173 to put cricket at the forefront of a series threatened to be swept up in sentiment. Now that the emotional tide has settled somewhat, both teams will feel they can get down to business.For Pakistan, it will be finding consistency in the bowling attack and solidity in the middle order, which they will ultimately hope will lead to securing a trophy at home. Wahab Riaz’s waywardness will be an area of concern, especially if the third seamer is as expensive as Bilawal Bhatti was in the first match. While Pakistan will be pleased with the way Mukhtar Ahmed partnered Ahmed Shehzad, they will also want runs from the senior men Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik.For Zimbabwe, it will be building up the confidence to press home any advantage they may get and square a series to set themselves up for the ODIs. Zimbabwe are equally as unused to being ahead of the game as they are to playing in front of massive crowds and the effects of that showed in the first game. After posting a decent total, their bowlers began poorly and the pressure from the partisan crowd mounted. But they will know they competed deep into the game and will now want to take that one step further by ending up on the right side of the result.

Form guide

Pakistan WLLWL (last five matches, most recent first)
Zimbabwe LWWLL

In the spotlight

It’s difficult to imagine Shahid Afridi overwhelmed but he appeared exactly that in the way he managed his bowlers in the first match. He seemed to be rotating them on feel rather than plan but composed himself enough by the time he needed to bat and hit the winning runs to seal cricket’s comeback to his country. His home crowd will hope that the one delivery Afridi faced, which he bludgeoned over the bowler’s head, was just a taster for bigger innings.Since his second stint as captain began, Elton Chigumbura has notched up his highest ODI (90) and T20 (54) score but the increased responsibility is not the only reason for his improving form. Chigumbura has been bumped up the order to bat in the top five and spending more time at the crease seems to be paying off. Both Chigumbura’s career bests came in losing causes and the man himself has said that he would find it more rewarding if his next major contribution concludes with a victory.Elton Chigumbura has said he would find it more rewarding if his next major contribution concludes with a victory•AFP

Team news

Pakistan’s victory would suggest that no changes are needed but they may want everyone in their T20 squad to get a run at home. Nauman Anwar, Mohammad Rizwan, Imad Wasim and Hammad Azam are the four members of the squad who did not play the first match and may come into contention.Pakistan: 1 Ahmed Shahzad, 2 Mukhtar Ahmed, 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Umar Akmal, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Shahid Afridi (capt), 7 Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Anwar Ali, 9 Wahab Riaz, 10 Mohammad Sami, 11 Bilawal BhattiAfter a spirited performance in the first match, Zimbabwe will not have much reason to change their XI, but may want to look at giving another seamer an opportunity. Tawanda Mupariwa could come in for Tinashe Panyangara while Craig Ervine could be used in the middle order in Sikandar Raza’s place.Zimbabwe: 1 Vusi Sibanda, 2 Hamilton Masakadza, 3 Charles Coventry, 4 Elton Chigumbura (capt), 5 Sean Williams, 6 Sikandar Raza/Craig Ervine, 7 Richmond Mutumbami (wk) 8 Graeme Cremer, 9 Tinashe Panyangara/Tawanda Mupariwa, 10 Chris Mpofu, 11 Brian Vitori

Pitch and conditions

There will be more runs on offer on a surface that is tailor-made for big totals and that’s not the only reason the fielders will be wary. Sunday is expected to be even hotter than Friday was, with day-time temperatures reaching 44 degrees.

Stats and trivia

• Zimbabwe have only scored more than 170 in a T20 on four occasions and only reached 200 once.. Their 172 for 6 in the first match was their fourth highest total in the format.
• The last time Pakistan won a T20 series of more than one match was against Zimbabwe, in August 2013. They have played four two-match T20 series since then, lost one and drawn three.

Quotes

“I don’t think so you will find Ajmal in near future, it’s definitely a thing which is missing.” 

Leicestershire’s Ben Raine shook Glamorgan with five wickets but a substantial late-order rally left Glamorgan holding the whip hand in Cardiff

ECB/PA24-Jun-2015
ScorecardBen Raine’s five-for had Leicestershire sniffing victory•PA Photos

Leicestershire medium-fast bowler Ben Raine ripped through Glamorgan’s middle order to give Leicestershire hope of victory in the Division Two match in Cardiff.Raine tore the hosts’ middle order apart, taking four wickets for two runs in 17 deliveries after Colin Ingram, with a polished innings of 60, and opener Jacques Rudolph had put on 96 for third wicket.Raine dismissed Ingram, Chris Cooke, Craig Meschede and Mark Wallace, the last two for ducks, in quick succession to leave Glamorgan rocking on 105 for 6.It meant their lead was only 130, but yet again Graham Wagg, after his 200 and 94 in the last two innings, counter-attacked effectively and as the last three wickets piled up 139 with consummate ease it helped to rally Glamorgan to a second innings total of 298.Visitors Leicestershire closed the penultimate day on 75 for 3 and will go in search of the 249 more runs they need for victory on Thursday’s final day, while Glamorgan need seven more wickets to record their fourth successive championship win.Glamorgan captain Jacques Rudolph top-scored for the hosts with 74 after remaining at the crease for five and a half hours while Raine claimed a career-best 5 wickets for 43 runs in the innings.Rudolph was assisted by Ingram and latterly Wagg, with the tailenders chipping in at the end of the innings.Rudolph eventually fell when the score was on 207, bowled by Tom Wells, but Andrew Salter, with a career best 54 not out and Michael Hogan and Andy Carter, plundered 91 from the last 10 overs.Needing 324 to win from 126 overs, Leicestershire soon lost Angus Robson, who nicked at an outswinger from Meschede to Wallace. Shortly afterwards Wagg dismissed Ned Eckersley, who deflected the ball on to his stumps.There was further success for the home team when Hogan, in his second spell, trapped Mark Cosgrove lbw for 14 after the former Glamorgan batsman had found it difficult to adapt to the slow pitch.

A sparkling 112-run opening stand between Peter Gough and Edward Farley led Jersey to a shock nine-wicket win against Hong Kong in Bready

Peter Della Penna in Bready11-Jul-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsResponding to enthusiastic chants of “Come on you Jersey Boys” from their traveling supporters, Jersey turned in the first major upset of the tournament on their ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier debut, trouncing Hong Kong by nine wickets at Bready. A 112-run stand by openers Edward Farley and captain Peter Gough was the result of an audacious assault and a cinch victory was achieved with 16 balls to spare.The left and right-hand duo of Gough and Farley put on a scintillating display just as entertaining as Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons though Hong Kong may want a refund after their own subdued performance. Gough set the tone in the fourth over, ramping fast bowler Haseeb Amjad over fine leg and clattering him over midwicket a few balls later.Farley joined the party in the sixth over, hitting Aizaz Khan for a four through the leg side before a flick sailed over cow corner for six, ending the Powerplay at 46 for 0. The rout was in full swing in the ninth over when Aizaz was punished for three more boundaries – one by Gough through fine leg and two more by Farley – over mid-on and a vicious pull through square leg – to take the score to 75 for 0.Hong Kong looked shell-shocked and their fielding turned ragged in the 10th with two boundaries coming from the result of misfields. Farley was dropped at point off a no-ball from Nadeem Ahmed in a 16-run over that took the score to 91. Jersey’s bench erupted in the 11th when Farley hit his third sixth over long-off to bring up the team 100, then followed with another six into the sight screen off his next ball to bring up his half-century off 31 balls.Farley fell to a super catch at deep midwicket from Kinchit Shah off Irfan Ahmed for 57 but that was the only positive in the field for Hong Kong. Jonty Jenner and Gough coasted the rest of the way with Gough unbeaten on 81 to be named Man of the Match.The win was set up by an exceptional effort in the field from Jersey, who won the toss and sent Hong Kong in on a cold damp morning following a 20-minute delayed start due to early rain. Irfan Ahmed’s streaky innings included a four over the keeper and another slashed over short third man before he powered a six over mid-on. When he tried repeating the shot off left-arm seamer Cornelius Bodenstein, he skied a chance to mid-off where Anthony Kay backpedaled for the catch to remove Irfan for 27 as Hong Kong ended the Powerplay at 38 for 1.The stand that followed between Nizakat Khan and Anshuman Rath lasted 41 balls for 47 runs, though it only included two boundaries from Nizakat as a slow dewy outfield combined with tidy fielding from Jersey shackled Hong Kong’s power hitting. Nizakat’s patience wore out when he was cramped for room attempting to cut and chopped on to his stumps for 25.Mark Chapman pulled a crisp boundary behind square off his second ball and his arrival spurred Rath out of his shell. The opener was on 23 off 33 balls, having gone the first 13 overs without a boundary but started the 14th with an elegant six over mid-on before a cut behind point gave him another four later in the over off Bodenstein.Chapman hammered another four through midwicket off Charles Perchard two balls into the 15th over before edging past the keeper for another. He managed to run himself out for 17 on the fifth ball of the over after brief hesitation coming back for a run to midwicket. Jonty Jenner charged in from the boundary and his throw to the keeper beat Chapman’s desperate dive to make it 118 for 3.Rath eventually perished in the 17th, middling a sweep off the left-arm spin of Ben Stevens to deep backward square leg when Ben Kynman tumbled forward for a low catch. Hong Kong could only manage 22 off the last three overs and just one boundary as Jersey continued to keep things relatively tight. Babar Hayat was stumped dancing down the track for 10 before captain Tanwir Afzal was run-out on the final ball trying to steal a bye.Hong Kong’s batting was clearly affected by the absence of Jamie Atkinson, who sat out after not being passed fully fit following surgery to repair a sliced foot tendon.

The weather which had behaved wonderfully in Malahide over the last nine days finally turned sour on Sunday at the World Twenty20 Qualifier, as the third place game and championship match were both abandoned without a ball bowled

The Report by Peter Della Penna in Malahide26-Jul-2015
Match abandoned
ScorecardPreston Mommsen and Peter Borren with the trophy•ICC/Sportsfile

The weather which had behaved wonderfully in Malahide over the last nine days finally turned sour on Sunday at the World Twenty20 Qualifier, as the third place game – between Ireland and Hong Kong – and championship match – between Scotland and the Netherlands – were both abandoned without a ball bowled. It was the first time that any overs were lost for matches played in Dublin during the tournament tournament, with 16 games played to their full conclusion prior to Sunday.Steady showers had been falling in Malahide since early Sunday morning. Officials waited until the 12:46 pm cutoff time to call off the first match and although the cutoff time for play in the second game was 4:45, a decision was taken at 2:55 pm to abandon the final as rain only got heavier during the afternoon.Namibia’s Bernard Scholtz was named the Player of the Tournament after tying for the most wickets in the tournament with 14, alongside Ireland’s John Mooney and Scotland’s Alasdair Evans. Scholtz’s best was a spell of 4 for 11 in a win over Papua New Guinea to net a Man-of-the-Match award, while he also claimed the match honours in a losing effort against the Netherlands, taking 3 for 15.

Jos Buttler has been rested for the remainder of the one-day series against Australia and will be replaced by Jonny Bairstow for the final three matches.

Andrew McGlashan06-Sep-2015England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler has been rested for the remainder of the one-day series against Australia and will be replaced by Jonny Bairstow for the final three matches.Although Buttler’s glovework has continued to improve his batting has faded in the second part of the season against Australia. He made just 122 runs at 15.25 in the Ashes and fell for a third-ball duck at Lord’s on Saturday, lbw to Glenn Maxwell. That followed a score of 4 at the Ageas Bowl when he drove loosely to mid-off.Being England’s wicketkeeper across all three formats since the middle of last year, when he was promoted to the Test side following Matt Prior’s ultimately career-ending injury against India, has meant Buttler has had an extensive workload.He missed the last one-day international against New Zealand and the T20 earlier this season, having sustained a finger injury, but has played 43 internationals since making his Test debut against India, at the Ageas Bowl, last July. Only Joe Root, with 44 appearances, has played more for England during that period and he has been granted a rest since the end of the Ashes.Between the end of the Ashes and the start of the limited-overs leg against Australia Buttler appeared in the NatWest Blast finals day for Lancashire having also played the quarter-final between the fourth and fifth Tests. Barely 12 hours after picking up the trophy at Edgbaston, as Lancashire overcame Northamptonshire in the final, he was at a training session in Cardiff ahead of the T20 international.Trevor Bayliss, the England coach, said: “While we initially felt Jos would have enough left in the tank for this ODI series, it has become clear in the last couple of days that he will benefit from a break from cricket ahead of the winter tours. We know that for players involved in all formats finding periods throughout the year when they can rest is key and Jos has had a heavy workload throughout 2015.”Resting  players provide opportunities for others in the international arena and Jonny Bairstow now has a chance to build on the one day form he showed at the end of the New Zealand series earlier this summer.”Bairstow was unlucky to be omitted from the original one-day squad having made a matchwinning, unbeaten 83 against New Zealand, at Chester-le-Street, in June on his recall. He was then also recalled to the Test team during the Ashes at the expense of Yorkshire team-mate Gary Ballance although did not completely convince at No.5.England already had Sam Billings, the Kent wicketkeeper-batsman, in the squad but do not yet view him as an option for the gloves and have left him out of the first two matches against Australia after he played the series against New Zealand and the T20 against Australia as a batsman.While Bairstow’s call-up to replace Buttler means at least one change to the England side for the third match at Old Trafford on Tuesday they will have to consider further alternative options as they try to keep the series alive having gone 2-0 down at Lord’s.David Willey and Reece Topley, the left-armers, will come into the equation to provide the bowling attack with some variety.

Fast bowler Pat Cummins remains upbeat despite facing another lengthy period of rehabilitation as the result of a back stress fracture

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Sep-2015Fast bowler Pat Cummins remains upbeat despite facing another lengthy period of rehabilitation as the result of a back stress fracture. Cummins has been ruled out of Australia’s Test tour of Bangladesh but he has in mind the goal of returning to the national side in time for the World Twenty20 in India next March.Stress fractures of the back and foot have cruelled Cummins’ career ever since he was Man of the Match during his only Test appearance, against South Africa in Johannesburg in 2011. He has not played a Sheffield Shield game since March 2011 but was part of Australia’s World Cup-winning squad this year and at 22, he is confident that he can again return from a long injury lay-off.”I’m not really worried now, compared to a couple of years ago,” Cummins told reporters in Sydney on Friday. “The fact I was able to come back after bowling a heavy schedule over two years, and to have it culminate in a really successful one-day international series at the back end of it means I’m not worried at all.”I know I can do it. While we haven’t set out a rehab plan yet – and things will obviously be dictated by my recovery – the Twenty20 World Championship in India early next year has been targeted as a goal for me to try and return for. I will be doing all of my rehab sessions with that tournament in mind.”Cummins was only 18 when he played his sole Test match and a big future was expected, but nearly four years on and his entire first-class career still consists of only eight games. He said his latest injury would not discourage him from continuing to bowl as fast as he could – often he is able to break the 150kph barrier.”Certainly not, especially when you’re playing for your country and the batsman is trying to smash you around,” he said. “In short-form formats you have to bowl flat out because you only have a couple of overs to have an impact. Why would you bowl 140kph when you can hit 155?”Australia’s bowling coach Craig McDermott said he was confident Cummins could still have a long international career ahead of him despite the latest setback. McDermott said that although Cummins had “a little more lateral flexion than you’d like”, there was no apparent need to rebuild his bowling action from scratch.”He’s just going to be disappointed he’s got injured again and he’s got another road back of six or seven months before he is back playing competitive cricket at a high level again,” McDermott told the . “He’s already shown he can do it in all three formats so we’ve just got to be patient with him. He’ll do the rehab work, no doubt, and working your way back from those things is not much fun. It’s long, tedious work … but he’s been through it and I’m sure he’ll do the same.”I don’t think he’ll have any problems whatsoever dealing with this. He’s very mature, very meticulous with his preparation, and he’ll be back bigger and better than ever … I’ve known Patty since he was 16 or 17 … it’s disappointing he’s got injured but he’s still young, he’s got time on his side. He’s got another 10, 12 years ahead of him.”

Waqar Younis, the Pakistan coach, has criticised the inconsistency of the Decision Review System, and believes that the margin of doubt for Umpire’s Call should be increased from 50 percent to 75 percent

Umar Farooq in Dubai28-Oct-2015Waqar Younis, the Pakistan coach, has criticised the inconsistency of the Decision Review System, and believes that the margin of doubt for Umpire’s Call should be increased from 50 percent to 75 percent. The current set-up, he says, is allowing match officials to be complacent in their decision-making.An umpire’s call verdict is currently given when the TV replays suggest that an lbw decision is too marginal to be fairly overturned. Waqar believes there is excessive weight given to distinct parameters – pitching point, point of impact with batsman’s body, and whether the ball is hitting the stumps or not. Presently, if the umpire gives an appeal not out and less than half the ball is shown to be hitting the stumps, the decision will not be overturned.”I strongly believed this 50 percent formula is not fair to the players,” Waqar told ESPNcricinfo. “They should even it out a little bit by making it 70/30 or 75/25. If the ball strikes you inside the line, 25 percent it should be given out rather than making a verdict on the basis of 50 percent. Sometimes a decision is not out when it is hitting 49 percent [of the stump], even though you are convinced that it is hitting flush. So that sparks frustration, this whole mechanism needs to be tweaked.”Even if it’s hitting the stump 30 percent, it should be given out rather than applying Umpire’s Call and a 50 percent margin. We don’t mind playing with DRS but the important factor is it should involve all elements, otherwise it will kept on leaving out a lot of controversy.”DRS technology is being used during Pakistan’s series against England, although without the use of HotSpot and Snickometer, because their addition would raise the cost by more than £6,000 per day. The third umpire is explicitly prohibited from discussing whether or not a particular appeal should be given out or not, as DRS requires conclusive evidence to overturn a decision. However, with half of the technology in use, Waqar doesn’t believe this makes any sense.”This half-DRS is not acceptable and the system like this doesn’t make any sense,” he said. “You either don’t have it or have it complete. Some decisions look very ugly and that is why people complain. We have witnessed big blunders and I think the ICC should take care of it and it should be the one body controlling it uniformly for all.”Sometimes one bad decision can affect the entire game like we had in Abu Dhabi. I have already met with the ICC and suggested that they revisit their parameters. They have agreed to some extent and I hope this will be considered at their cricket committee meeting.”The issue of Umpire’s Call was raised last week in a recent ICC briefing for journalists ahead of the Dubai Test, with Geoff Allardice, the ICC’s general manager, confirming that the margin for error would be examined in the future as the technology improves.The ICC continue to point out that DRS is designed to make amends for clear mistakes, not close decisions. In 19 Tests between April 1 and September 30, 899 decisions were made, of which 179 were reviewed and 35 were reversed. Prior to DRS, ICC figures state that 95.6 percent of decisions were correct. Since then, that figure has risen to 99.1 percent.