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If young seamer Kamrul Islam Rabbi’s description of Courtney Walsh’s first training session as bowling coach was any indication, the Bangladesh players’ excitement at working with one of the best fast bowlers in history won’t be fading anytime soon.”We have been regularly talking among ourselves over the last week about our new bowling coach and when we heard that it was Courtney Walsh, we all became very happy,” Rabbi said. “He observed us today, without pointing out any mistakes. When he applauds at something that we do, it means a lot to us. Those of us who are in the pipeline looking forward to playing international cricket, we can learn a lot from him.”Walsh began his routine by asking the players to introduce themselves and their style of bowling, and made them target the stumps with no batsman facing.”After asking everyone’s name, he asked whether we are left-arm or a right-arm bowlers,” Rabbi, or Rab as Walsh calls him, said. “He didn’t tell us much since there is a [practice] match tomorrow. He told us to focus on the game. He made us do spot-bowling for six overs each. We bowled yorkers and length deliveries specifically [to prepare] for [the inter-team] match. We bowled yorkers to left-handers and length for right-handed batsmen.”He looked into our grip, run-up and action. I have been seeing his Youtube videos in the last few days. He is such a legendary bowler. We were little when he used to play. From what I saw today, I think he likes the basics, like a basic action. He said that my run-up is smooth and looked at the grip of Al-Amin [Hossain] and Rubel [Hossain].”Rabbi, 24, hoped Walsh’s experience would help educate uncapped fast bowlers like him about playing at the top level.”He knows what goes on in an international match. He can bring back a bowler from bad form. He would know my mental state when a batsman dominates me. He can prepare the bowler better in the next game.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
2:09

Manjrekar: Heartening to see WI bowlers go for wickets

India lost their first five wickets for 126 and their last five for 14, but between the two collapses R Ashwin and Wriddhiman Saha added 213 runs to save them the blushes. Ashwin scored his fourth century, all against West Indies and two in this series, and Saha attacked his way to a maiden Test century, which countered West Indies’ plan to keep India from scoring freely on a slow outfield.The day, though, belonged to West Indies, whose new opening combination of Leon Johnson and Kraigg Brathwaite followed the bowling charge with a stand greater than all their earlier opening partnerships in this series put together. Brathwaite ended the day unbeaten on 53, with West Indies still 246 behind, which could take some time coming on the slow outfield. After 234 runs on the first day, the second day produced 226 for six wickets.India’s theoretical dislike of slow scoring, and some of the selections in Virat Kohli’s Test team might leave you worried for the future of old-fashioned Test batsmen, but Saha and Ashwin continued to bat for the tribe after the rescue job on day one. While Ashwin, resuming on 75, gave India the solidity, it was Saha who played with intent against a limited West Indies attack happy to play the defensive game. Saha added 58 off 105 balls to his overnight 46 even as West Indies kept it tight at the other end.The first hour of the day replicated what happened for long periods on the opening day. West Indies stacked up one side of the field, and their strike bowlers spent their energy bowling on that side of the wicket, hoping for impatient shots from the batsmen. None of that arrived.The intent came in the second hour with Saha taking risks and Ashwin taking only what came his way, understandable given he was approaching a hundred. Saha’s effort on the second morning was a repeat of his approach on the first day: against disciplined bowling, Saha had scored 1 off the first 34 balls he faced, 8 off the first 65, and then opened up to end the opening day on 46 off 122; when he came back on Wednesday he scored just 6 off the first 31 balls he faced, but then drove Alzarri Joseph through cover for the first boundary of the day, in the 10th over of the morning.After drinks the clear plan seemed for Saha to have a go and disrupt West Indies from their plan of taking time out of the game. Sixty-one came in the second hour as opposed to 21 in the first. Saha was at the forefront, hitting all of the first five boundaries of the day. The third of those, a slog off Roston Chase, the offspinner, took him to his personal best, 64. The fourth took the partnership to 150. In the 21st over of the morning, Ashwin cut away from his body and got his first boundary of the day, moving to 99.Even as Ashwin stayed on 99, Saha raced away from 77 to 93 by the time the players went off for their second meal of the day. In the last over before lunch, though, Shannon Gabriel caught Saha on the bare forearm with a short ball. Saha came back with a swollen elbow, but both the batsmen duly reached their centuries with Saha becoming only the fourth India wicketkeeper to score an away century. In the seventh over after lunch, Saha went to drive a really full delivery from Alzarri Joseph, edging it through to Shane Dowrich.Now the West Indies pace attack charged at the tail with renewed vigour. Having waited 281 balls for his first Test wicket, Miguel Cummins took three in 10 balls: Ravindra Jadeja following an angling delivery, and Ashwin and Ishant Sharma fending at awkward short balls. In between the Cummins carnage, Gabriel came back to get a much-deserved second wicket, Bhuvneshwar Kumar caught at short leg.That the quick bowlers were making the batsmen fend pointed to some life in the pitch, but only if you banged the ball in. The India bowlers – Bhuvneshwar and Mohammed Shami with the new ball – looked to nick the batsmen out. Shami took over Cummins’ poor luck; in the half hour before tea he drew an edge from Brathwaite that fell short, and one from Johnson was dropped by KL Rahul at third slip. By the time Rahul made amends with a direct hit from midwicket to run Johnson out, West Indies had put together their first fifty opening in 26 innings.For the first time in the series Darren Bravo walked out after a good start, and batted with more assurance than earlier. Brathwaite brought out the discipline he is known for, waiting for loose balls, not minding having to run runs because of the slow outfield, breaking the monotony with a chip shot here or there, spending more than three hours at the wicket for his half-century. The closest India came to a wicket was indifferent running from Bravo and Brathwaite.

David Saker has been named as Australia’s new full-time assistant coach, taking over the role vacated by Craig McDermott earlier this year. Saker, who served as England’s bowling coach from 2010 to 2015, is also expected to step in as Australia’s acting head coach at some point next year to give Darren Lehmann a break, as occurred when Justin Langer stood in during the recent tri-series in the Caribbean.Saker’s appointment means Victoria will now be searching for a new head coach, after he took Victoria to the Sheffield Shield title in 2015-16, his only season in the role. South African great Allan Donald is acting as Australia’s bowling coach during the tour of Sri Lanka, which has just begun, and Saker will take over in time for the one-day tour of South Africa in September-October.”David’s experience working around the world with international teams will be invaluable, especially as we work toward the upcoming Indian Test series and the Ashes,” Lehmann said. “His technical expertise in all facets of the game is a real bonus and very important when working with the young group we have.”We spoke with a lot of people about this role and really took our time deciding what direction we wanted to go. David’s appointment gives us good clarity in our senior coaching group. What impressed me most about David was his vision of where he is heading as a coach and also where he wants to take our young group of bowlers and players.”He and I have always had robust discussions about the good of Australian cricket, he is passionate and I appreciate that. I love his attitude and he will bring great energy to our group.”Those “robust discussions” might have taken place behind closed doors, but spilled into the public arena on a couple of occasions last year. In October, Saker said he believed Victoria fast bowler James Pattinson was not yet ready for a return to Test cricket, which prompted Lehmann to suggest that: “David Saker should concentrate on coaching Victoria and leave us to pick the side for Australia”.Later in the summer, Saker said during a radio interview that it was “ridiculous” that the selectors had chosen Nathan Coulter-Nile in the squad for the Hobart Test against West Indies, when he had not played a first-class match since the previous season. But now, Saker will find himself working within the Australian camp.”David has had proven success with Victoria in the short time he has held the role, as well as success on the international stage, and that was a key part of the recruitment process,” Pat Howard, the Cricket Australia general manager of team performance, said.”It’s a testament to the success of our coaching pathway program in Australia, that Justin Langer and David have been elevated from within the system to senior roles in the Australian cricket team. The fact that David has been a head coach previously, also gives us an option should Darren be absent or need a break from touring. We anticipate he will lead the Australian team at some stage during 2017.”Saker, 50, played 72 first-class matches for Tasmania and Victoria during the 1990s and 2000s, taking 247 wickets at 30.10. As England’s bowling coach, he was part of one of the country’s most successful eras, during which they won their first Ashes series in Australia for 24 years, and collected the World T20 trophy in 2010.”The opportunity to work with Australia’s best cricketers and coaches is one that I simply couldn’t pass up and I am incredibly excited,” Saker said. “With two day-night Tests against South Africa and Pakistan this summer, it’s a great time to enter the Australian set-up.”Having reflected on the role and spoken to my family, I feel that it is the next logical career step for me and that I can add more value at the national level, particularly next year with the ICC Champions Trophy in the UK and when England tour for the 2017-18 Ashes.”I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the past year with the Bushrangers and will miss the squad, especially as we managed to retain the Sheffield Shield. I have no doubt I’ll still be regular contact with many of the players I’ve coached when they play at the national level.”

Eden Gardens has hosted a World Cup final, iconic Tests, and IPL games for nine seasons. This April, the ground was host to a thrilling World T20 final. On June 18, the venue will be dressed up to host India’s first ever pink-ball match, a Super League final between two prominent teams in Kolkata – Mohun Bagan and Bhowanipore.Until two weeks ago, this four-day fixture was meant to be played with the red ball. An out-of-the-box idea from Sourav Ganguly, currently serving as president of Cricket Association of Bengal, forced the last-minute change. The former India captain is also head of the BCCI technical committee that recommended the Duleep Trophy be played with the pink ball this season.It’s an ambitious venture, given the monsoons arrived just a week ago, and the forecast is for thundershowers during the game. But Ganguly doesn’t deal with ifs; he didn’t tread that path during his time as India captain, and sees this new experiment as an opportunity to market day-night Test cricket.”Let’s start something,” Ganguly said at a panel discussion on pink-ball cricket that was attended by his former India team-mate VVS Laxman and former Australia batsman Dean Jones. “Our problem is that we jump to too many conclusions before starting something. Let us go through it. Let us see the problems. Let us try and address them. And hopefully in six months’ time, we’ll fix it.”Six other Full Members have already experimented with the pink ball – India aside, only New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe are yet to play any pink-ball cricket locally. And given India are scheduled to play 13 Tests at home between October and March, it’s no surprise that Ganguly is keen on looking into the new format.”Pink ball, to me, is the way forward,” he said. “Firstly, with common sense, it gets people to the ground after work. You finish work at 5pm and then you come in the evening, spend a few hours, watch cricket and go back. Test match cricket is also played at a faster pace than what it used to be. You have got to market it.”You have got to find a way to bring people into the ground. Everything in life needs innovation. This [day-night Test cricket] is here to stay. It has got to be told to the people, like we sell IPL, like we sell T20 cricket, like we sell one-day cricket – that come have fun and go. Test cricket has to go that way.”Ganguly does not need to do the hard sell with the players from Mohun Bagan and Bhowanipore. Players and coaches from both sides are excited to be part of the historic experiment.At their first training session, on June 15, all the Mohun Bagan players had a unique request for their coach Palash Nandy: they didn’t want to bat or bowl, they just wanted to hold the pink ball. Around five pink balls were procured from ball manufacturer Stanford – though the game will be played with pink Kookaburras – to let the players get acquainted with the colour. “No one wanted to bat or bowl, everyone wanted to see how it looked, how it felt in their hands,” Subhomoy Das, the Mohun Bagan captain, said.Bhowanipore will go into the match on the back of just one training session with the pink ball. That didn’t seem to concern their coach Abdul Monayem, who expects the prevailing overcast conditions to benefit his bowling attack. “It is definitely a challenge. But we will try to stand strong through the four days,” Monayem said. “It will swing mostly and in the first 15-20 overs, it will possibly be very difficult for the batsmen. But I expect the gloss on the ball to wear off later and bring the spinners into the picture.”The thrill of doing something new has clearly kept the doubts at bay. There are questions Das and other players have, but it is not something they are losing sleep over. “It will be challenging. How will it feel in the hands, how will it behave under lights, how easy or difficult will it be to sight the ball. These are a few things we are worried about,” Das said. In his first training session with the pink ball, Das, a one-time Bengal batsman, observed that it “swung a little more”.Sourav Mondal, who will share the new ball for Mohun Bagan with India fast bowler Mohammed Shami, was keen to figure out how the ball would behave once it became a little old. Unfortunately, both teams could not train for long enough to find out; a drizzle forced them to retreat to the dressing room after the CAB had provided them with three pink Kookaburra balls each on the match eve. “I could only bowl six or seven balls. I felt it was similar to the white Kookaburra,” Mondal said. “The ball was seaming and swinging. With the moisture in the wicket, this will continue to happen until the wicket gets drier.”Mondal reckoned that unlike the red SG Test ball, which tends to get softer soon, the pink ball would stay hard and the lacquer would hold for longer. But, he felt, the pink ball would not get enough movement once it got old – around the 30-over mark. “The seam is not prominent on the pink Kookaburra compared to the white ball,” he said. “But it is very bright and the coating is much more than a white Kookaburra.”Sujan Mukherjee, the curator at Eden Gardens, remains unperturbed by the excitement around him. “It will be the same white dress. It will be the same white sight screen. Only the ball is pink,” Mukherjee, who has left a “see-through” grass covering on the pitch, said. “I am preparing the wicket the same way as I would for a day-night ODI.”Ganguly, who was part of a similar experiment when he led an MCC side in Dubai five years ago, seems to have done his homework ahead of the game – even if the time frame was tight. In addition to writing to Kookaburra in Australia to gets the pink balls delivered, Ganguly also wrote to John Stephenson at the MCC to ascertain key things that needed to be in place to host the match. “The first thing John said is, ‘Please get the conditions right: you have got to leave a bit of grass on the surface and make sure pitches on either side have a bit more grass on them as well,'” Ganguly said.A general concern surrounding day-night games in the subcontinent has been the dew factor. Ganguly said he expected this to be an obstacle only in the winter months. “I don’t think there is going to be dew now. It is fairly hot. We will go through it easily. I don’t see any problem – if the white ball can be played under the lights, then pink ball, too, can be played.”The biggest challenge for Ganguly and the CAB will be to see whether the fans will turn up for the Super League final. The game received a massive fillip when it was announced that it will be broadcast live. Will that affect ground attendances, though? Ganguly does not think so: “I am sure when we get that pink ball on the park there will be a bit of problems. But I see it as a success because it will get fans into the ground.”

ScorecardJamie Porter followed four false starts with a wicket•Getty Images

England bowling prospect Jamie Porter survived a serious bout of the yips to help Essex keep Leicestershire firmly in check at Chelmsford.Porter pulled out in his delivery stride four times in a row as he attempted to bowl the third ball of his fifth over.Even when he did release the ball at the fifth attempt, the final steps to the crease were short and stuttering. Two balls later, however, he rapped Paul Horton on the pads and had the opener lbw for 19. The 23-year-old’s celebration was akin to Stuart Pearce exorcising his demons after netting a penalty in the shoot-out against Spain at Euro 96.Porter was helped through his nightmare by words of encouragement from veteran seamer David Masters standing at mid-on. He bowled a sixth over in his opening spell before returning later, claiming a second wicket, and finishing with figures of 2 for 61.Masters said: “There is not a lot you can say when someone runs in and they don’t know what to do, and he’s run in three or four times. He said to me, ‘Hod, I don’t know what’s happening’. I said, ‘Just relax, chill’.”He had a hard day today and that is part of cricket and part of the learning experience. It’s not all about running in and knocking people over – he’s had a lot of that. He’s been getting lots of wickets and bowling really well. He will learn from that.”But taking the wicket was perfect for him – he said he’d had it planned all the time!”I haven’t had anything like that in my career, so it’s sometimes hard to understand. It’s a little bit of a mental block sometimes, worrying about things. But he overcame it out there and I take my hat off because that is quite hard to do. He could quite easily have chucked the towel in.”There are a lot of people who have had it, but he is a strong lad, a strong character, and he’ll be fine. He had a bad day. He bowled a lot of no-balls and he struggled. But we all have days when we struggle. It’s a good learning curve for him; it’ll be good for him going forward.”Porter had been mentioned in dispatches as a future England bowler when he followed a memorable first season in the county game – when he took 50 wickets – by adding 28 more in his first six Specsavers County Championship matches this summer.But it was the tight and parsimonious bowling of Masters and Ravi Bopara that prevented Leicestershire racing away and overhauling Essex’s first-innings total. Both bowlers claimed three wickets, Masters for just 33 runs from 19 overs, Bopara for 43 in 21 overs.From the high point of 128 for 1, Leicestershire lost their last nine wickets for 115 runs in 43 overs. That they got within 25 runs of Essex’s total was thanks to a 135-ball 74 by opener Angus Robson. His third half-century of the season included 10 fours.Porter’s had been the last Essex wicket to fall at the start of the day’s play. Clint McKay sent two of his stumps flying with the 17th ball of the morning to finish with figures of 4 for 47 and Essex all out for 268.After the departure of Horton, Angus Robson and Neil Dexter put on 88 for the second wicket in 25.2 overs without due alarm and with some crisp hitting.Dexter was first to go for 33 from 72 balls when Matt Quinn ripped out his off stump soon after lunch. Robson was fourth man out when he top-edged Masters to James Foster.In between Leicestershire captain Mark Cosgrove had become the first of three victims for Tom Westley at second slip, steering the ball straight into his hands as if giving him pre-match catching practiceAadil Ali wafted outside off stump to give Westley a second catch, and Ned Eckersley completed the trio as Westley fell backwards to give Masters his third wicket.Mark Pettini, making his first appearance at Chelmsford since moving to the Midlands last year, batted pleasantly for 80 balls, six fours and 36 runs before he fell lbw to Bopara.Five runs later, Bopara accounted for Ben Raine, caught behind. McKay then scooped Porter to Dan Lawrence at point, which is where Rob Taylor perished soon after, to wrap up the Leicestershire innings.Essex lost Nick Browne in negotiating 11 tricky overs at the end, bowled by McKay for 8. But Jaik Mickleburgh and nightwatchman Quinn saw them through to the close.

Match facts

Friday, June 3, 2016
Start time 1300 local (1700GMT)

Big Picture

South Africa seem to play series in the Caribbean that few fans will remember. The last time they toured the region was in 2010, during the football World Cup hosted in South Africa. Safe to say their clean sweep of the three formats has been forgotten. This time, they are visiting for a tournament that is seemingly even less relevant: a triangular ODI series scheduled a year before the next major tournament.With the series comprising day-night games, fans in South Africa are more likely to go to bed and unlikely to watch more than the first 30 overs, but that does not mean there is nothing at stake. For South Africa coach Russell Domingo, almost everything is at stake. Even though the independent review, which was due to scrutinise his performance, has been scrapped, Domingo’s position remains precarious and he will have to turn things around quickly to keep his post. He will also have to do that without the team’s pace ace.Officially, Dale Steyn was rested for this series in preparation for the Test season but he is instead playing T20 cricket for Glamorgan. Morne Morkel, Kagiso Rabada and Kyle Abbott will have to carry the attack, and there will also be an opportunity for the spinners to play starring roles. South Africa’s batting line-up is settled and, with AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock to call on, they will be expected to make the final.West Indies, on the other hand, are in danger of being shut out of their own party, though it seems to have just gotten started following the double World T20 triumphs. In keeping with West Indies’ selection policy of picking only players who were available for their domestic 50-over tournament, Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo and Darren Sammy were left out. Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine are back for the first four matches, but that is scant consolation given their other areas of concern.The hosts are short on ODI game time, having last played nearly seven months ago, when they lost to Sri Lanka in November. Their two warm-up matches against a Barbados Select XI took place without their captain and several other players who were at the IPL, and they lost both. But pride in the region is at an all-time high and if they are to pull off a coup, South Africa is their first target.

Form guide

(last five completed games, most recent first)
West Indies LLLLW
South Africa WWWLL

In the spotlight

Sunil Narine returns to international cricket after spending six months on the sidelines working on his bowling action. In the recent IPL, he played a supporting role in the Kolkata Knight Riders attack, taking 11 wickets at an average of 27.63. At home, against a South Africa middle order that is notoriously soft facing spin, he has the opportunity to come into his own.After an underwhelming performance at the World T20, where his batting position was changed at the 11th hour, AB de Villiers stormed back into form at the IPL. He was the third highest run-scorer overall, and racked up six fifties and a century in 16 innings for Royal Challengers Bangalore. De Villiers is leading South Africa into a new era, after their worst season in recent memory, and there will be no better way for him to do it than with the bat.

Team news

Pollard and Narine should slot straight into West Indies’ XI. Darren Bravo will headline the batting line-up with World T20 hero Carlos Brathwaite, while Jerome Taylor and Jason Holder will shoulder the pace attack.West Indies (probable) 1 Johnson Charles, 2 Andre Fletcher, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 7 Carlos Brathwaite, 8 Jonathan Carter, 9 Jason Holder (capt), 10 Sunil Narine, 11 Jerome TaylorFaf du Plessis has been ruled out of this match as he recovers from a broken finger, giving Rilee Rossouw a chance to show what he can do. Farhaan Behardien will likely keep the No. 6 spot and Chris Morris could edge out Wayne Parnell for the allrounder’s role. With Morne Morkel back, South Africa may have to choose between an extra seamer in Kyle Abbott or a second spinner in Aaron Phangiso to complete their attack.South Africa (probable) 1 Hashim Amla, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Rilee Rossouw, 4 AB de Villiers (capt), 5 JP Duminy, 6 Farhaan Behardien, 7 Chris Morris, 8 Kagiso Rabada, 9 Morne Morkel, 10 Kyle Abbott/Aaron Phangiso, 11 Imran Tahir

Pitch and conditions

South Africa and Australia are expecting the Guyana surface to be slow and low, and to take turn. Run-scoring could be sluggish but things will not be easy on the field, with high heat and humidity that could prove energy-sapping, even at night. There is a strong chance of rain during the day, although the probability drops to below 40% from 5pm.

Stats and trivia

• This is the first time all matches of an ODI series in the West Indies will be played under lights
• The only other time West Indies and South Africa competed against each other in a triangular series was in 1993, when South Africa hosted West Indies and Pakistan. West Indies won that series

Quotes

“They are a very dangerous team in all formats. They’ve got match-winners from start to end. It’s in their home conditions. They know it better than we do. They’ve got their home support.”
“They generally bank on their quicker bowlers, but they also have a few spinners whom we have to look out for.”

England will go into their T20I series against South Africa without both Ben Duckett and Jamie Smith this week, prompting head coach Brendon McCullum to concede they must learn how to cope better with their busy international schedule.Duckett, Smith and Harry Brook have been ever-present for England across their 15 international fixtures to date this summer, and all spent August playing in the Hundred. All three players will miss next week’s brief tour to Ireland, and McCullum has prescribed an additional week’s rest for his ODI openers so they can “freshen up” ahead of a busy winter away.It means that Duckett and Smith will miss consecutive T20I series less than six months out from a World Cup in the format, when better planning would have seen them skip the ODIs instead. In their absence, Phil Salt – who missed England’s most recent T20Is on paternity leave – looks set to open the batting alongside either Tom Banton or Will Jacks.Related

• South Africa beat England and the rain to leave Cardiff 1-0 up

• ECB chair says crammed Hundred schedule is 'short-term issue'

• Bethell admits he 'probably should have played more' this summer

• Bethell, Root tons, Archer four-for see England hand out record thrashing

England face a tight turnaround between the Ashes and the T20 World Cup this winter, interspersed with white-ball tours to New Zealand and Sri Lanka. Rob Key, England’s managing director, claimed last year that their upcoming schedule was “easing” when expanding McCullum’s role to cover white-ball cricket but it shows few signs of doing so.A one-day gap after the Hundred final meant that England’s players did not train together as a full squad ahead of Tuesday’s first ODI in Leeds, in which they were thrashed by seven wickets. ECB chair Richard Thompson acknowledged the crammed fixture list was an issue on Sunday, but admitted that it is unlikely to change significantly within the ongoing broadcast rights cycle.”The scheduling isn’t ideal,” McCullum said after England’s consolation win in Southampton. “That’s just the way it is and it’s not going to change, so we’re going to have to find ways to deal with it… We’re just going to have to find ways to be able to hit the ground running a bit quicker than what we did in this one.”I spoke to [Duckett] and I said, ‘I think you need to freshen up. You’ve played so much cricket and you’re such an influential player for us over the next few months.’ He’ll have a decent break at home, as will Jamie Smith… It gives the other guys opportunities, and it’s exciting, too. If we just rely on 11 players, then we’re not really going to be competitive.”One of those “other guys” is Sam Curran, who will bat in the top six against South Africa after winning a recall through his performances for Surrey and Oval Invincibles. McCullum has never previously picked Curran for one of his teams, and told him in an “honest conversation” over breakfast earlier this summer that he needed to “bang the door down” as a batter.”The message to Sam was that a lot’s come to you quickly and you’ve had a lot of success and a lot of fame, and a lot of things have fallen your way,” McCullum said, “but, of late, your performance had just tailed off a bit… With us resting both Jamie and Ben, it gives us the opportunity to bring Sam in and he’ll get his chance to bat in the top six.”England are expected to stick with the spin-heavy strategy they trialled against West Indies in June for this week’s series as they prepare for next year’s T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka. Curran will likely be their third seamer, with Jacob Bethell and Jacks supplementing Adil Rashid and either Liam Dawson or Rehan Ahmed as spin options.Bethell and Jacks acted as England’s fifth bowler in the ODIs against South Africa but their combined 10 overs in a tight defeat at Lord’s were hammered for 112 runs. McCullum said it was “really hard” to balance the side without a genuine allrounder, but has already spoken to Brook about how to give his part-time options “slightly more in their favour”.”We’ve just got to be a bit smarter with it… Utilising the big side of the ground, or also trying to set slightly more defensive fields,” McCullum said. “They don’t need to take 3 for 30 off 10 overs. They’ve just got to find a way to be able to create pressure and hold for a period so that our attacking guys can come in.”We won’t always be married to that [balance] but at the moment, we want to make sure that we’ve got that familiarity within our batting group – particularly in the middle order, as they adjust to some new roles so that they get more and more comfortable with how each of them is going to play.”McCullum said that England’s record 342-run thrashing in Southampton had provided them with “an incredible blueprint” in ODIs during an “oscillating” series. “We got hammered in the first one, we were within one blow in the second, and we dished out a pretty good performance in the third… It shows that there’s not a huge gulf between the two teams.”

Nat Sciver-Brunt is expected to play a full part in England’s three-match ODI series against India later this month, after being named as captain in a 15-player squad despite missing the end of the T20I series with a groin injury.Sciver-Brunt suffered the injury while batting during the second T20I and was subsequently ruled out of the remaining three games. Tammy Beaumont took charge for Friday’s third match at the Kia Oval, where England kept their series hopes alive with a tense five-run win that reduced their deficit to 2-1.However, England’s selectors are optimistic that she will be fit again by the time of the first ODI at the Utilita Bowl on July 16, with subsequent fixtures at Lord’s on July 19, and Chester-le-Street on July 22.Also included in the squad is Sophie Ecclestone, who missed the West Indies ODIs early this season while recovering from injury, but returns in place of the legspinner Sarah Glenn. Hampshire’s Maia Bouchier – who was last week called into the T20I squad as Sciver-Brunt’s replacement – is also back in contention.Lauren Filer, who averaged 76mph in bowling the fastest recorded over in women’s cricket during the Oval victory on Friday, has again been included in the ODI set-up as she continues her comeback from a knee injury.England have been challenged hard by India in the course of the T20I series, having lost the first two matches by heavy margins, particularly the series opener at Trent Bridge where Smitri Mandhana’s century set her team up for an emphatic 97-run win.However, the fight that England showed to get across the line in a tense finale at The Oval pleased their new head coach, Charlotte Edwards, who sees the ODI series as another vital test of her team’s credentials as they rebuild after their disappointments at the T20 World Cup and the Ashes last winter.England Women ODI squad to face India•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“India have really pushed us during the Vitality IT20 series,” Edwards said. “We knew they would and we’ve learned a lot about the team in the three games so far. There have been some good moments but we’re a team in transition and we need to keep working hard to do what we’re trying to do more consistently, and for longer. That’ll be asked of us again in the ODIs.”Friday night was high drama and we were delighted to keep ourselves in the series, I’m very proud of the character and the fight the players showed. Hopefully we can keep that going at Emirates Old Trafford and Edgbaston and into the Metro Bank ODI series.”The squad has largely stayed the same since the ODI series against West Indies, but Soph [Ecclestone] comes back into the side meaning Sarah Glenn misses out this time around. We’ve also added in Maia Bouchier to bolster our batting line-up and continue to offer competition for places. This series is the perfect preparation for the ICC Women’s World Cup in India this autumn, but it’s also a series we’re determined to win.”

England Women ODI squad to face India

Nat Sciver-Brunt (capt), Em Arlott, Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Alice Davidson-Richards, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Amy Jones, Emma Lamb, Linsey Smith

Headingley has become the home of the run chase, and England hauled in a target of 371 to prove it. Set up by Ben Duckett’s dazzling 149, and sealed with a six by Jamie Smith, they romped home in just 82 overs to seal a sixth consecutive win in Leeds – all while bowling first – and to take a 1-0 lead in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.It left Ben Stokes to breathe a sigh of relief after his decision to field on Friday morning, and India to dwell on the countless opportunities they missed to take control of this Test. They hit five centuries to England’s two, but lower-order collapses of 7 for 41 and 6 for 31 proved costly – as did their six dropped catches.This was a chastening way to start a new era for India, with Shubman Gill’s sparkling first-innings century long forgotten as he reflected on a heavy defeat in his first Test as captain. After series losses against New Zealand and Australia, India have now lost seven of their last nine Tests, and may only have Jasprit Bumrah available for two of the next four on the England tour.Bumrah was borderline unplayable in Australia, taking 32 wickets in the series, but was unusually ineffective after his first-innings five-for at Headingley. He went wicketless in England’s run chase, and was seen off by Duckett and Zak Crawley, whose partnership of 188 in 42.2 overs laid the foundations for a victory cruise despite the lingering threat of rain.3:26

Harmison: Not sure India believed they could get Duckett out

Duckett was sublime, starting his innings slowly before accelerating against India’s weaker links. He was particularly severe on Ravindra Jadeja, whom he reverse swept into submission, and Prasidh Krishna, whose five wickets in the match could not disguise an eye-watering economy rate of 6.28, the most expensive in India’s Test history.England wobbled in the afternoon against Prasidh and Shardul Thakur, but Smith and Joe Root saw them across the line with 14 overs remaining in the final hour. Root was characteristically cool in his unbeaten 53, while Smith took Jadeja for 18 runs in an over, including sixes over square leg and mid-on, to see his team across the line.Duckett and Crawley had reached the lunch break unscathed, battling through probing early spells from Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj before tucking into India’s change bowlers. Duckett cut and pulled with total control until his hundred was a shot away: on 97, he offered a chance when he pulled Siraj to deep square leg, but Yashasvi Jaiswal dropped his third catch of the match.Siraj was furious, and made no effort to hide it. He had drawn Duckett into a verbal battle after drawing an outside edge which skewed away through a gap in the slip cordon soon after lunch, and could only watch in frustration as Duckett reverse swept Jadeja for four to reach three figures, his ~ Test century and his first in the second innings of a match.Duckett punched the air to celebrate and then got back to work, milking Jadeja for off-side runs as he packed his leg-side field. But Prasidh prised the game open from the other end, first drawing an edge from Crawley which flew to first slip, and then nipping one back off the seam to induce a chop-on from Ollie Pope, England’s first-innings centurion.Shardul Thakur got Ben Duckett and Harry Brook back-to-back•Getty Images

Duckett continued to race along, his strike rate edging closer to 100 as he reverse slapped Jadeja over cover-point for the first six of the final day. It took the reintroduction of Thakur to remove him on 149, driving straight to short cover, and when Harry Brook strangled his first ball down the leg side, India were back in the game.Stokes survived Thakur’s hat-trick ball, and saw England through to an early tea with Root for company. After a brief hold-up for a rain shower, Stokes and Root both survived lbw appeals as Gill burned through India’s last two reviews. But with the partnership on 49, Stokes top-edged a reverse sweep straight to his opposite number at short third.Smith strode out at No. 7 as though determined to prove his mettle after an ill-timed first-innings dismissal, and set to work alongside Root. The same pair took England close to the line in a nervy chase against Sri Lanka in Manchester last year; this time, they took them over it with an unbroken stand of 71.Some of Gill’s decisions will come under scrutiny: Siraj went unused between the 41st and 81st overs, while Bumrah did not get the chance to bowl in the final 17 overs of the match. He is only due to play in three of the five matches in this series, and India’s performance suggested their attack will struggle badly without him.The result was vindication of Stokes’ decision at the toss, and means that five of the last seven Headingley Tests have been won by a team chasing at least 250 in the fourth innings. And if this chase was not the white-knuckle ride of the 2019 Ashes, it was a clinical performance which hinted at a more complete, more rounded England approach.

As he prepares to depart the ICC, Alex Marshall, the head of global cricket’s anti-corruption unit (ACU), has warned that “badly run” domestic T20 leagues “at lower level” remain a “threat” to the game with corruptors looking to use them as an entry point. Marshall, 63, has decided to retire from the ICC job this November, ending a seven-year term, which started in 2017 as general manager of the ICC’s integrity unit, which includes the security and anti-doping units apart from the ACU.Marshall, a former senior policeman in the UK, recently communicated his decision to the ICC, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family, including parents and grandchildren in England. Marshall, who replaced YP Singh, was the fourth ACU head and was shortlisted by Sir Ronnie Flanagan, the independent chairman of the anti-corruption watchdog.Marshall said that while the malaise of corruption will continue to shadow cricket, he was “proud” that during his stint the ACU had been successful in helping players be more forthcoming about approaches from corrupters. “I am proud of the significant increase in trust from players who now report approaches to us frequently whereas there was a time when they lacked confidence in confidentiality and the action that will be taken,” Marshall told ESPNcricinfo on Friday. “They have now seen corruptors being disrupted, named, banned when they get involved in cricket. And the education we now do with players shows them who the corruptors are, what their methods are, so everyone is much better equipped and protected to keep corruption away from the game.”Immediately upon taking charge in September 2017, Marshall and his team investigated several people in Sri Lanka, a country where the ACU was busy at that point, conducting a number of probes concerning “various types of corrupt activities.” That operation lasted several years during which the ACU met the top-most authorities of the Sri Lankan government, including the President and Prime Minister, to paint them a picture of corruption that had seeped into the country’s cricketing system. Eventually, the ACU intervention paved way for Sri Lanka becoming the first South Asian country to criminalise several offences related to match-fixing.Related

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Marshall said he was happy with the progress in Sri Lanka, where he says there are now stronger guardrails to ward off corrupt elements. “Sri Lanka turned out to be a good news story because there were serious issues which were addressed locally and with ICC,” he said. “Now with the legislation and stronger measures Sri Lanka is in a much better place to keep the corruptors away.”Another significant outcome of the ACU probe involved charging several Sri Lankan players under its own code, including sanctioning a two-year ban on former Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya in 2019 for refusing to co-operate with investigations related to corruption in cricket.Two other former international captains, Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan and Zimbabwe’s Heath Streak, who passed away last September, were charged by Marshall’s ACU for wrongdoing. Both players accepted their offence. In 2019, the ACU sanctioned Shakib across the three international formats for failing to report “not one but three” approaches made by alleged corruptor Deepak Aggarwal to engage in corrupt conduct in two tournaments in 2018: an ODI tri-series in Zimbabwe and an IPL match the same year when the Bangladesh player featured for Sunrisers Hyderabad.In 2021, Streak was handed an eight-year ban by the ACU after admitting to five breaches of the ICC’s anti-corruption code, including accepting a payment in bitcoin from a potential corruptor.As he prepares to leave his ICC job, Marshall has a word of caution for those administering, playing and governing cricket: that corrupt elements continue to wander around, waiting for any opportunity to enter the system. And one of those routes, Marshall stressed, was “badly” managed T20 franchise leagues, which are outside the ambit of the ICC ACU and are instead monitored by the member country boards.”I am confident that the cricket you watch is safe and clean,” Marshall said. “But I am also absolutely sure that corruptors are constantly looking for a route into the game, particularly in badly-run lower-level franchise leagues. The threat to the game is corruptors won’t go away while there is always money to be made and they will look for weakness in the system to get in.”