All posts by csb10.top

Graeme Swann, the England offspinner, has said he would favour a scrapping of one-day international cricket to ease the congestion in a packed fixture list but doesn’t expect many supporters for his controversial idea.Swann, who is currently the No. 3 bowler in ODI cricket and reached the top spot during the English season, admitted he prefers Test and Twenty20 cricket but has no plans to quit the 50-over format in the near future. Although he is 32, being a spin bowler means that Swann has a realistic chance of being part of the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand should he want to continue that long.”I think one-day cricket will have to give at some point, hopefully for everyone,” Swann told . “I don’t think that game should carry on for much longer. For me it’s not as enjoyable to play in. I think Test cricket and Twenty20 are the way forward for cricket.”Swann managed just two wickets in four one-dayers on England’s tour of India during October but has been a key part of the limited-overs team since returning to the side in 2007 and has taken 90 wickets in 64 matches with a career-best of 5 for 28. He has recently filled in as Twenty20 captain in the absence of the injured Stuart Broad.”We do play too much cricket and if something had to give my choice would be 50-over cricket, or make it 40-over cricket or something,” he added. “But that’s a purely personal choice. I don’t think many people agree with me. I think I will finish [playing] before any changes take place so I will carry on playing whatever they put in front of me.”Swann also added that the postponement of the Test Championship until at least 2017 was “disturbing” and said that for England the five-day game is rated higher than the Champions Trophy, an ODI competition, which will now be played in 2013 as scheduled.Earlier this week David Collier, the ECB chief executive, insisted the English board remained committed to making the Test Championship a reality. “It is common knowledge that we were the main advocates for the Test Championship and we still believe in that very strongly,” he saidEngland are currently the No. 1 ranked team in Test and Twenty20 cricket but have struggled to rise above mid-table in the 50-over format. They exited the 2011 World Cup at the quarter-final stage and although they beat India and Sri Lanka during their home season they were whitewashed 5-0 in India.

Match facts

Sunday, November 6
Start time 9.30 (0400 GMT)

Big Picture

The last time a team other than South Africa beat India in a Test in India, nobody knew of Twitter outside the office of its founders and Facebook was an invitation-only site meant for university and high-school students to share notes. A bit like the growth of those Internet media, it has become increasingly difficult to beat India in India. In the five years and eight months since that defeat to England in Mumbai, India have lost two out of 22 home Tests, the best record among all teams. It will be a shock this season if any addition is made to their two losses, despite coming off four straight defeats in England.Then again the number of draws over the same period – nine – is equally instructive. These draws say a bit about the flat pitches, a bit about two badly timed declarations which sat on their lead in two series, and the three times the batsmen dug in in the second innings to save Tests. It also says that while it is difficult to beat India in India, it isn’t quite improbable to keep them from winning. It shows in how the host broadcaster is not repeating the advertising stunt from last year, when it labeled the series against New Zealand “Mission Domination”.It says that while absolute domination – the whitewashes – hasn’t quite been India’s style for whatever reasons, it also means India are less likely to leave the door ajar for West Indies. If you are the underdogs, though, having gone close to four years without an away win against an opposition other than Bangladesh, you want a little complacence from the favourites, a little over-confidence or arrogance. You want them to over-aim, something India don’t do.You want to strike when they are not looking, sometimes even one such session can be enough to win a Test. West Indies will look to keep hanging in, keep taking the blows, and hope for India to look away. West Indies have shown they can be stubborn enough through the two draws against the same opposition in the home series earlier this year. The Indian bowling attack this time is comparatively even less experienced. India managed the lone win on a difficult track. Wonder if the Indian curators watched that?

Form guide

(Most recent first)
India LLLLD
West Indies WDDDL

Watch out for…

India’s new bowlers. Ishant Sharma will lead the attack, but there are debuts expected. R Ashwin is all but certain to be the second spinner along with Pragyan Ojha, who himself wasn’t among the top two spinners as recently the England tour. One out of Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron will get a Test cap too. This will be a huge test for these youngsters, especially with this being an audition for the Australia tour.It is reassuring that the over-my-dead-body Shivnarine Chanderpaul remains relevant to Test cricket. In the last Test he played against India, he thwarted them for eight hours and 21 minutes to save the game. That was after a particularly turbulent period in his career, a period that made him speak more words in public than he had in his international career. He was hurt, he ranted, he came back and showed he still belonged. On this difficult tour, West Indies will need all his experience and stubbornness.

Pitch and conditions

This is just as big a test for Feroz Shah Kotla. This is only the third first-class match, and the first Test Delhi is hosting after the abandonment of an ODI in 2009-10. The re-laid pitch has been slow, low and lifeless for List A cricket. In one of the two first-class games, it retained its Ranji reputation of early life when Gujarat were bowled out for 71 on the first morning, but neither of the matches produced a result. It is hoped that the new Kotla will break away from the trend, especially considering November mornings are smoggy in Delhi, which could lead to loss of some play.

Team news

Only two slots seem uncertain for India: No. 6 and the second fast bowler. Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane are contenders for the first, and Yadav and Aaron for the latter. Yuvraj is the favourite for the first, both the contenders have laid equal claim to the latter.India (probable) 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 VVS Laxman, 6 Yuvraj Singh, 7 MS Dhoni (capt. & wk), 8 R Ashwin, 9 Ishant Sharma, 10 Pragyan Ojha, 11 Umesh Yadav/Varun AaronThe big question for West Indies revolves around Ravi Rampaul, who consistently provided them with early breakthroughs in the home season. He then had to make way for Kemar Roach in Bangladesh. However, they can’t afford to play both of them because then he will have to take the place of a specialist batsman, the specialist spinner or the captain. Adrian Barath, fit again, should take his opening slot, which means either Kieran Powell or Kraigg Brathwaite will have to sit out.West Indies (probable) 1 Adrian Barath, 2 Kieran Powell/Kraigg Brathwaite, 3 Kirk Edwards, 4 Darren Bravo, 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Marlon Samuels, 7 Darren Sammy (capt.), 8 Carlton Baugh (wk), 9 Ravi Rampaul/Kemar Roach, 10 Fidel Edwards, 11 Devendra Bishoo

Stats and trivia

• This is the first time, since November 2000, that India are playing a home Test without both Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh.
• This will be West Indies’ first Test in India in more than nine years, which means only Chanderpaul and Marlon Samuels have played previously in India. Both have a century each. Samuels scored 104 in his only Test in India.
• Sachin Tendulkar, one short of reaching 100 international hundreds, broke the record of most Test centuries at the same venue when he scored his 35th, against Sri Lanka in 2005-06.

Quotes

“Over the last six to 12 months our fast bowlers, Ravi Rampaul, Fidel Edwards, Kemar Roach and Darren Sammy have done well and won us matches. We know that India obviously will be heavy on spin but we believe in the quality of our fast bowlers.”
“The Australia series is too far away, so no point thinking about it. As far as this series is concerned, the light may be a factor. It may mean we start a bit late and end a little early. Difficult to predict.”

Netherlands have announced their squad for the Womens World Cup Qualifier in Bangladesh. Helmien Rambaldo will captain the group for the tournament, which starts on November 11 and provides the opportunity to qualify for the World Cup, World Twenty20 and ODI status.The top four teams will go to the World Cup, the top two will secure their places at the World Twenty20, and the top six will be granted ODI status. The Dutch squad will spend the time remaining until their departure working on their conditioning and skills, training three times a week as a group.The team will be supported by four experienced coaches at various sessions over the next few weeks. Former national player and current A team coach Roland Lefebvre will be involved, as will Dutch Lions coach Tim de Leede, national coach Peter Drinnen and Under-17 coach and KNCB chief executive Richard Cox. Wicketkeeper Miranda Veringmeier will also be working with former England wicketkeeper Jack Richards one-on-one.”After the fantastic experience of winning four trophies in quick succession at the end of the 2011 season we have enjoyed a short break and are now keen to get down to work again to prepare for the World Cup Qualifiers,” said Rambaldo. “We know we have a stiff task ahead but the whole squad is determined to give their all to prepare.”With the four coaches we have on board for the preparation we should be able to take their knowledge together with our experiences to form some good game plans. We then have to execute them. Already the preparation programme that has been devised is one of the most varied ones I have been involved with and includes a new cricket testing programme which create lots of enthusiasm and competition within the squad and that’s what I want.”Netherlands Women squad Helmien Rambaldo (capt), Leonie Bennett, Laura Brouwers, Maxime Entrop, Carlijn de Groot, Denise Hannema, Jolet Hartenhof, Hannah Hofman, Mariska Kornet, Esther de Lange, Esther Lanser, Marijn Nijman, Kerryanne Tomlinson, Miranda Veringmeier (wk).

Sachin Tendulkar has hailed team-mate Rahul Dravid’s contribution to the Indian team in the limited-overs format, describing him as “a role model” and “the unsung hero of the Indian team.”Dravid, who announced his retirement from the limited-overs format during the ongoing tour of England will be appearing in his last ODI in the fifth and final game in Cardiff on Friday. Tendulkar, who was ruled out of the ODI series due to injury, praised Dravid’s work ethic and his ability to “stay a step ahead of the game”.”When he started playing ODI cricket, he faced some initial difficulties, but he was never one to give up,” Tendulkar told the . “He worked very hard on his flaws, and he made sure to fight it out.”With a career strike-rate of just over 71, Dravid has often been labelled as being unsuited for shorter formats of the game, something that Tendulkar disagreed with. “He may not give you a quick start, but he will surely make his innings count in terms of time spent at the crease. You need such players in the team, and he was the best man for the job. Others in the team played around him, while Rahul batted as the situation demanded. It wasn’t that he couldn’t bat quickly; he just made sure that he batted according to the situation.”Rahul also had that ability to finish a game, and I remember he played the same role at No. 5, or for that matter at any other spot in the batting order. And that was one of the main reasons he sustained his role as an important member in the side.”Former India captain Anil Kumble who was also Dravid’s Karnataka state-mate echoed Tendulkar’s view.”He [Dravid] is not someone who will go out and tonk sixes at will but he gets the job done,” Kumble wrote in his column in the . “Rahul’s approach has changed in the way he uses the pace of the bowler, looks to take the early singles and keep the board ticking over.”Of the 343 ODIs that Dravid played in, he has kept wickets in 73 of them. He started keeping wickets when Sourav Ganguly was captain, a move that Ganguly said “Indian cricket should be thankful to Rahul for”.”Rahul has had a chequered one-day career and it took a new turn once he decided to keep wicket in 2002,” Ganguly wrote in his column in the . “His decision was absolutely for the team as it helped reorganise the middle-order and add more depth to it.”Both Tendulkar and Kumble said that one of the turning points in Dravid’s ODI career was when he started keeping wickets. “He is the perfect team man; when he was asked to keep wickets we all knew that he will do well because he was initially a wicketkeeper. It later helped him, and came as a big help to all of us in the Indian team during the 2003 World Cup. He got better by the day during that campaign, and also managed to score quick runs with the bat,” Tendulkar said.”The best phase of his ODI career was in the four or so years when he was the wicketkeeper, and batted at No. 5,” Kumble said. “He established himself as a great finisher, and it was while batting alongside him that the likes of Yuvraj and Kaif truly matured in the lead-up to the 2003 World Cup.”

Gary Kirsten, the former India coach, has admitted to being “a bit sad,” after MS Dhoni’s side lost their No. 1 Test ranking, following three consecutive Test defeats to England. However, Kirsten has warned that it is not yet time to panic and that the team he coached to the top of the world are still a formidable side.”I am bit surprised with the results, but not in a negative way,” Kirsten, who now coaches South Africa, told ESPNcricinfo in Johannesburg, where he was attending a sponsorship announcement. “It’s always difficult to understand why teams ebb and flow and often it’s the intangibles that make the difference.”While India’s poor performances have been put down to everything from the lack of planning to lack of fight, Kirsten sees the reason for their losses as something less easily identifiable. He dished up a range of possible reasons, with the central theme being that of the culture of the side and how that may have to change with the change of coach. “When a new coach comes in its important that he follows on with the culture of the team,” Kirsten said.Kirsten established himself as a flexible, contemporary coach, who was capable of being involved with the players as well as letting them take care of themselves. More importantly, he was as hard-working as they needed to be, literally, showing them what it would take to be successful. Hailed for the umpteen throwdowns he provided, the players saw him as one of them. It’s too early to tell whether they see new coach Duncan Fletcher in the same way, but even if they do, Kirsten admitted that the taking over the mantle, from any coach, is tough. “It’s not easy to continue a run of success,” he said.One of the difficulties that may come with transition is understanding the make-up of the Indian team, particularly where it is deficient. “They are a great cricket team, with a great captain and one of the best batting line-ups in the world which is why they were No. 1,” Kirsten explained, before saying something that indicated that he had not completely let go of the Indian team just yet. “But always knew that we were bit short on the bowling side and that was something that we learnt to manage.”India’s bowlers have bowed out of the series in sequence, making it tricky to stay consistent and threatening in that department. First senior fast bowler Zaheer Khan was injured, then the spin department was forced to turn another way when Harbhajan Singh had to leave and, before the start of the fourth and final Test, Praveen Kumar suffered an ankle injury.And, while the bowling has lurched from one state of crisis to the next, the batting has failed to live up to expectations. With experiences hands like VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar unable to score a century between them, there is concern that the best days of Indian batting are behind them, and fresh faces should be sought, but Kirsten doesn’t agree.”People said that with such an experienced team we should try to integrate youth but I felt that for as long as those experienced guys were there and they were enjoying it and playing good cricket, they should carry on,” he said. “Even if it means that there is only one spot to bring in a youngster, that’s fine. We were able to, at number six, so we covered both angles.” Suresh Raina has been the man who has been allowed to fill and mature in that role and has also been earmarked as one for the future, by being the stand-in ODI captain.It’s in the shorter format of the game that Kirsten thinks India can redeem themselves on this tour, especially after their World Cup triumph. “I hope they have a good one-day series, because if they leave do, they can look back and say, ‘ok, we had a disappointing Test series, but as World Cup winners we’ve shown our worth in the one-day game.'”It will be a way for India to validate and sustain their status as one of the top teams in the world, something that new ODI captain AB de Villiers thinks is much more complicated than it looks. “It’s difficult to reach the top and stay there,” he said. “They won the World Cup, which was massive for them, but then they’ve had a tour of West Indies and a few injuries and maybe the hunger to win games goes down a little.”

Anura Ranasinghe, who died in his sleep on Monday night, was one of the finest all-round cricketers produced by Sri Lanka and the first schoolboy to play in the World Cup.Ranasinghe never had the chance to fulfil his potential to the full at the highest level, because eight months after Sri Lanka had played their inaugural Test with England in February 1982, he went to South Africa with a Sri Lanka rebel side and along with 13 other players who undertook that tour was banned for a period of 25 years.The ban virtually ended his career as a cricketer, and Ranasinghe was never the same again until six months ago, when his club Bloomfield appointed him as the coach of their Under-23 and division III teams.Ranasinghe accompanied Bloomfield to Galle for their U-23 23 fixture last weekend. He returned home on Monday and having foregone his lunch, went to sleep. He never woke up afterwards, according to his sister Rohini. He was only 42 years at the time of his untimelydeath.Ranasinghe distinguished himself as a right-hand batsman and bowled left-arm medium-pace and slow spin. As an allrounder he was renowned for his fighting qualities, where on several occasions he had rescued his school Nalanda College and club from perilous situations withboth bat and ball. Renowned radio commentator Premasara Epasinghe and Nelson Mendis were Ranasinghe’s coaches at school through whom he learnt the rudiments of the game.Ranasinghe created history in 1975 when he became the first schoolboy to play in a World Cup when he represented Sri Lanka in the inaugural tournament in England at the age of 18 years. He played in all three matches against West Indies, Australia and Pakistan.He was unlucky not to make it to the final XI of Sri Lanka’s inaugural Test against England at the Sara Stadium in February 1982 when another schoolboy from the rival school Ananda College, Arjuna Ranatunga got the vote ahead of him, and went on to score a maidenTest fifty.Ranasinghe made his Test debut the following month against Pakistan at Faisalabad. He scored six and five (being caught on both occasions by Pakistan captain Javed Miandad) and sharing the new ball with Ashantha de Mel, captured the wicket of top scorer Ashraf Ali (58)for 23 runs. He played one other Test – against India at Chepauk that year – scoring an aggressive 77, before undertaking the illegal tour to South Africa.Ranasinghe also appeared in nine one-day internationals scoring 153 runs (avg. 21.85) and taking two wickets (avg. 140.50) and toured England in 1981, when Sri Lanka were elevated to the ranks of a Test nation. He also captained the Sri Lanka Under-25 team to South Indiaand successfully regained the Gopalan trophy against Tamil Nadu and also led Sri Lanka U-19s in the series against Pakistan in 1975 and 1976.”Anura had rare qualities of being a top fielder and a dual purpose left-arm bowler,” said Bandula Warnapura, Sri Lanka’s first Test captain and formerBloomfield stalwart. “He was a fighter to the core and took up any challenge. He was a tough guy on the field and was very outspoken.””He was a fine cricketer. Bloomfield has lost a good man,” added Bloomfield president Shelley Wickramasingha.Born in Colombo on October 13, 1956, Anura Nandana Ranasinghe was the fifth in a family of three brothers and three sisters. Two of his brothers – Lakshman Ranasinghe and Aruna Ranasinghe – were notable cricketers, representing Nalanda and Bloomfield.For a short period, Anura worked at Pelawatte Sugar Corporation. He married and has a son aged 12 years old.He is the second Test cricketer produced by Sri Lanka to depart, the first being Sritharan Jeganathan who passed away last year.The Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka have undertaken the funeral arrangements. His funeral will take place at the general cemetery, Kirillapone tomorrow.

Little more than a week since Steve Rixon joined the Australian team, Brett Lee says he is already assuming a position far more influential than that of a mere fielding coach.Australia’s notable intensity in a pair of pre-season training camps at Allan Border Field in Brisbane is attributable to the team’s current standing as a humble group with much to improve upon. But it has also been described as an indicator of Rixon’s instant impact on the players since replacing Mike Young.Lee, no longer a part of Test plans, has seen the drive and energy in evidence among the squad in Brisbane, as one-day and five-day exponents alike prepare for the task of visiting Sri Lanka. Familiar with Rixon during his dual stints as the coach of New South Wales, Lee said the former Australian wicketkeeper had quickly assumed the mantle of mentor.”Steve Rixon has come in, not only as fielding coach but also as a bit of a mentor as well, and whatever Steve’s touched in his life in coaching has turned to gold,” Lee told ESPNcricinfo. “Think back to the 1990s with the Blues, what he’s done with New Zealand cricket, ICL, IPL … everything he’s worked with has turned to gold. I’m certainly enjoying having his presence here, working alongside Tim Nielsen and the rest of the coaching staff.”It’s not just his fielding [coaching], it’s him in all facets with batting, bowling, playing a bit of a mentor role as well. This is not saying Steve’s come in as our fielding coach and going to change things and revolutionise the game, because we’re really happy with what Mike Young did.”But it’s something fresh, it’s new, he’s been around a long, long time, he knows his stuff and his record speaks for itself. So having him on board as a coach and a mentor as well, [allows] a lot of young guys can have a chat to him, and even the older guys can do the same.”Though Lee is an enthusiastic character, his ebullient description of training suggests that the advent of Rixon, the new bowling coach Craig McDermott and the fledgling captain Michael Clarke has begun to reinvigorate a set-up that looked outmatched and out-energised during the Ashes.”I was saying to a few of the blokes, I haven’t seen the Australian cricket team be this energetic for a long, long time, which really excites me,” Lee said. “With the young guys coming into the side and having that raw energy, but also the inclusion of a guy like Steve Rixon, it has breathed a whole new lease of life into the Australian cricket set-up.”The way he’s going to work beautifully with Tim Nielsen, and with Craig McDermott coming on as the full-time bowling coach now and Justin Langer signed on for another 12 months, the way we’ve trained the sessions last week, it’s like we’re almost on a different level now. It’s really exciting so I hope that keeps going.”Certainly the way we’ve been fielding, running around, throwing ourselves around the field, with the way our sessions have been structured, guys are eager to get out there and bowl in the nets and work on different stuff and being hard upon ourselves.”It’s been absolute quality, rather than quantity. It hasn’t been like we’re going to have a 4-5 hour training session without a break. This has been about short, sharp sessions, so we’ve had two sessions, one in the morning, one in the afternoon with lunch at the ground, trying to get it as realistic to playing cricket as possible.”While we’ve been doing our certain skills, whether it be batting or bowling, it’s been full-on. Even in the nets we’ve been challenging ourselves against the best batsmen, the bowlers have been having competitions amongst ourselves, trying to get batsmen out, the fielding’s been of pure quality, making sure we’re holding our catches, making sure we’re hitting the stumps. “McDermott, too, has followed up on his promise to demand a more systematic approach from his bowlers, commanding them to prepare with purpose.”I think it’s about us being consummate professionals and that’s something that McDermott was always known for,” Lee said. “He was always the guy who would go about his business in a professional way and he has definitely brought that through in his coaching as well, and that’s great when the sky is as high as we need to aim.”If you’ve got guys who are just going about their business and turning up and not really doing what they should be doing then you’re not going to improve as a player, but if you’ve got someone who wants to show you things, take you down a different path and enhance what you’ve already got but improve you. As any player gets older they’re always learning new stuff, and even the day that Glenn [McGrath] hung his boots up, he was always working on new things.”

James Anderson is set to lead England’s attack in the third and final Test against Sri Lanka at the Rose Bowl on Thursday, after being named in a 12-man squad at the expense of Surrey’s Jade Dernbach.Anderson missed the second Test at Lord’s after suffering a side strain during the first innings of the Cardiff Test, but he was optimistic of a quick return and will be officially passed fit provided he successfully negotiates Lancashire’s Friends Life Twenty20 match against Worcestershire on Sunday.Anderson comes into the squad for Dernbach, who came close to making his Test debut at Lord’s before the selectors decided to go with the extra height of Steven Finn. As it turns out, the lack of variety in England’s attack was exposed at Lord’s, with Tillakaratne Dilshan leading the way for Sri Lanka with an excellent 193.England National Selector, Geoff Miller, said: “Jimmy Anderson is the leader of our bowling attack so clearly he will be a significant inclusion should he get through Lancashire’s Friends Life Twenty20 match against Worcestershire unscathed.”Side strains can be particularly troublesome for bowlers but given Jimmy’s injury was a grade one strain and therefore a low grade injury, he is expected to be fit for selection. A period of rest and recovery has certainly been beneficial and we obviously wouldn’t include Jimmy in the squad if the medical staff weren’t confident of his fitness.”Anderson looked in prime form in Cardiff as he took 3 for 66 before picking up his injury on the second afternoon, although it didn’t stop him being the nightwatchman. Then, in his absence, England’s three-man attack completed a stunning victory on the final afternoon as Sri Lanka were skittled for 82.”It’s been a tough week because I can honestly say I haven’t felt a moment of discomfort since the diagnosis was made so I do believe I probably could have bowled in their second innings,” Anderson told last week’s The Mail on Sunday. “I fully understand the position of the medical staff; this is going to be a long summer and there was no point in taking a risk. But it may have been something that felt worse than it was because of the cold and windy weather.””I had mixed emotions as events unfolded on the last day in Cardiff,” he added. “It was fantastic to see us doing so well, taking the wickets and winning but, at the same time, it was tough to watch them all celebrating and not be involved on the pitch.”Assuming Anderson comes through his match against Worcestershire, England may face a tough decision as to which of their seamers to omit for the Rose Bowl.Stuart Broad’s recent appointment as England Twenty20 captain is an acknowledgement of his senior status within the England squad. Nevertheless, his record in red-ball cricket is becoming something of a concern, with his two wickets at Lord’s costing 154 and coming at 3.75 an over. After 36 Tests, he still averages an unworthy 35.97.”I don’t think he’s quite getting the rub of the green at the moment,” said Andrew Strauss after the Lord’s Test. “He’s bowled some very good balls that are passing the edge, and has probably bowled better than the statistics say. But all of us have to keep trying to improve, and make sure our performances get better.”The likelier man to miss out is Steven Finn, who became the youngest England bowler to reach 50 Test wickets during the Lord’s Test, but who leaked his runs at close to 4 an over and appeared to be lacking in rhythm in the early part of Sri Lanka’s innings.”I think Steven Finn got a lot better as the game went on,” said Strauss. “He’d been out of the side a little bit, so I suppose he had every right to feel a bit anxious at the start. But all our bowlers bring something different, and certainly Jimmy does with his consistent lines and swinging it a bit more than the others. We are very hopeful he’ll be fit.”England squad Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Chris Tremlett, James Anderson, Steven Finn.

The continuing struggles of Pakistan’s batsmen has come under scrutiny again after posting totals of 160 and 178 in their loss to West Indies in Providence. The performances, on an admittedly tricky surface on which West Indies also struggled, shone a light again on the inexperience in the line-up, particularly the middle order, and an over-reliance on the captain Misbah-ul-haq and the currently absent Younis Khan.A number of former cricketers have jumped in with their thoughts on the problem, a debate carried out as talk of the need for a batting consultant or coach in the set-up also increases. According to former Pakistan captain Hanif Mohammad, the problem lies in the demands of the format. “Test cricket is a different ball game altogether and it needs more concentration on the technical aspect,” Hanif told the . “Most of our players fail to understand the difference between limited-overs and Test matches and they play both formats with the same approach.”Hanif’s comments are vindicated to an extent in that that there has been only one Test century by a Pakistan batsman in the last twelve months; Younis Khan, against South Africa in Abu Dhabi. Plenty of batsmen have got half-centuries – Misbah alone has seven – but haven’t gone on to convert.It is not as if the batsmen have been raking in the runs in the one-day format either. The last time Pakistan scored more than 300 runs in a one-dayer against a Test-playing nation was against Bangladesh in June 2010. They struggled with the bat during the World Cup and didn’t manage anything more than 248 over five one-dayers in the West Indies.Hanif also pointed to a weakness against swing as one of the reasons for the loss in Providence. “Pakistan have always struggled a lot against swing bowling and this is one of their weakest points,” he said. “In our first-innings we went on the back foot and lost wickets, while in the second-innings we struggled against swing bowling.”Pakistan could not cope with swing on their now infamous tour of England last summer and were bowled out for less than a hundred thrice during the Tests there. Since then, there have been improved performances thanks largely to Misbah’s form since being given the captaincy. They have come across friendlier pitches in the UAE and then did well to notch up substantial first-innings totals in New Zealand, but batting long – individually or collectively – has proved problematic in the absence of men such as Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf and Younis.In Providence, they also struggled against the legspin of Devendra Bishoo in their first innings, before being troubled by the swing of Ravi Rampaul and Darren Sammy in the second. The seven dismissals Sammy managed in the Test – five lbw and two bowled – were similar in impact to the way Nuwan Kulasekara troubled Pakistan with inswing in Sri Lanka, in 2009.Aamer Sohail, the former Pakistan opening batsman, said the problem went beyond playing swing bowling or spin, and there was a need to improve young batsmen’s technique at a nascent stage. “Basically we have to improve our batting technique at the grass-roots, club and first-class level to prepare better batsmen to cope with all kinds of situations,” he told the .Meanwhile, another former Pakistan batsman Zaheer Abbas has said it is up to Pakistan’s board to remedy the problem. “Pakistan’s batsmen have been struggling throughout the tour, so I think the PCB will have to do something to overcome this problem if they want to form a good side,” Abbas told the .The PCB did bring in Javed Miandad as a batting consultant before both the New Zealand and West Indies series, but have not appointed a permanent batting coach. On that subject, Hanif said Pakistan do not need one. “I don’t think we need a special batting coach as the current players are experienced enough to tackle things on their own,” he said.The next Test between Pakistan and West Indies starts May 20 in St Kitts.

Match Facts

April 11, Dhaka
Start time 9.30am (0330 GMT)Michael Clarke is in form, but Cameron White’s lack of runs is a concern for Australia•Associated Press

The Big Picture

The series began as you’d expect, with Bangladesh putting up some fight but ultimately being overpowered by Australia. The hosts need to win the second game on Monday to keep the series alive, and to achieve that, they’ll need a stronger top-order performance. Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan both made half-centuries, but there wasn’t much support for them, and it meant Australia’s 270 was a pretty safe target. In the field, Bangladesh were better, but although they kept things tight through the middle overs, they let Australia get away in the end, and that is something they will need to address.For the Australians, Michael Clarke’s captaincy reign began well, both personally and professionally, with a century and a victory to his name. Ricky Ponting looked noticeably unburdened having given up the captaincy and he looms as a danger man for the next two games. However, they do need runs from the out-of-form Cameron White and they’d appreciate more application from the opener Brad Haddin, who was bowled on Saturday while walking and wafting simultaneously.Bangladesh’s decision to send Australia in after winning the toss in the first game didn’t exactly pan out, so expect whoever calls correctly to bat first on Monday.

Form guide

(most recent first)
Bangladesh LLWWL
Australia WLLWW

Watch out for…

Clarke will have noticed on Saturday how Tamim Iqbal handled the new ball with ease, and only started to go into his shell after wickets fell at the other end. But if Tamim gets going at the top of the order, Australia could find themselves with a hefty chase, or a difficult task to defend a total. And if Bangladesh are to level the series on Monday, they need a strong performance from Tamim.During the World Cup, John Hastings sat on the sidelines, carried drinks, bowled in the nets – and that’s about it. But now, thanks in part to the ODI retirement of Shaun Tait, he has a chance to establish himself as a full-time member of Australia’s one-day side. The allrounder of choice with the selectors since they cooled on James Hopes, Hastings is an accurate seamer with a good change of pace, and on the slow pitch at the Shere Bangla, he won’t be easy for Bangladesh’s batsmen to get away.

Team news

James Pattinson is still hoping to make his ODI debut, although that is more likely in the third match if Australia have already wrapped up the series by then. However, Cameron White’s poor form is a concern and after Saturday’s win, Clarke didn’t exactly promise that White would retain his place. Callum Ferguson and Tim Paine are in the squad, and Ferguson would be the most logical candidate to replace White if he is dropped.Australia (possible) 1 Shane Watson, 2 Brad Haddin (wk), 3 Ricky Ponting, 4 Michael Clarke (capt), 5 Cameron White/Callum Ferguson, 6 Michael Hussey, 7 Steve Smith, 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 John Hastings, 10 Brett Lee, 11 Xavier Doherty.Apart from Tamim and Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh’s batting line-up struggled on Saturday, and they have other batting options, including Alok Kapali and the uncapped Shuvagoto Hom.Bangladesh (possible) 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Imrul Kayes, 3 Alok Kapali, 4 Shahriar Nafees, 5 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 6 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 7 Mahmudullah, 8 Suhrawadi Shuvo, 9 Mashrafe Mortaza, 10 Shafiul Islam, 11 Abdur Razzak.

Pitch and conditions

The pitch on Saturday was slow and batsmen didn’t find it easy to get in, but once they were settled, runs were available. There is the chance of some light rain on Monday, with an expected top temperature of 34C.

Stats and trivia

• Since the start of the Australian summer, Cameron White has failed to make a half-century in 18 ODIs, and has averaged 23.53. His strike-rate of 64.15 during that period is easily the worst of any of Australia’s specialist batsmen or allrounders
• Brett Lee is one wicket away from 350 in one-day internationals; only Glenn McGrath, on 380, has taken more for Australia
• Mashrafe Mortaza needs two wickets to reach 150 in ODIs; Abdur Razzak is the only other Bangladesh bowler to have reached that mark

Quotes

“It’s a really hard place to start, so if you get in, if you get to 30 or 40 you need to go on and make a big score.”