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The 33-year old Punjab allrounder played three ODIs for India in 2016

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Nov-2023Gurkeerat Singh Mann, the 33-year old Punjab allrounder, has announced his retirement from international and Indian cricket. He played three ODIs for India in 2016 and was an IPL champion with Gujarat Titans six years later.Gurkeerat’s talents as an offspinner and a quick-scoring batter were first noticed in 2011, when he was part of the Punjab Under-22 side that won the CK Nayudu Trophy. Steady performances from there on took him towards an India call-up. By 2015, he was making the ‘A’ team and played a crucial part in winning a tri-series final against Australia A. Gurkeerat took that form and confidence into that season’s Ranji Trophy and when he scored a double-hundred and followed that up with a nine-wicket haul, his step up was complete.Gurkeerat was picked in India’s Test squad for the home series against South Africa in November – but he did not play – and at the start of 2016, he toured Australia with India’s limited-overs squad and made his ODI debut in Melbourne.

Allrounder said he would honour overseas league commitments, made after missing out on the original contracts’ list

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Sep-2022Jimmy Neesham has declined a New Zealand central contract, while Blair Tickner and Finn Allen have been handed their first deals.Neesham was offered one of the two vacant spots in the list after the departure of Trent Boult and Colin de Grandhomme, but turned it down having already committed to various T20 tournaments since his omission from the original list.”I know the news of my decision to decline a central contract today will be seen as me choosing money over representing my country,” Neesham posted on an Instagram story. “I had planned to accept a contract offer in July, however since being left off the list I have committed to other leagues around the world. It was a difficult decision but I have decided to honour those commitments rather than go back on my word to re-sign with NZ Cricket.”Playing for the [Blackcaps] has been the greatest honour of my career and I remain committed to taking the field with my countrymen for the foreseeable future, especially in pinnacle world events.”Related

• Williamson: Guptill will be missed but he has not retired

• Stead throws his weight behind misfiring Williamson

• Australia in pole position to make WTC final

Neesham has his name in for the SA20 league, which has its auction on September 19.Tickner, the fast bowler, and opening batter Allen have filled the two vacant spots. Boult stepped away from his contract earlier this year to allow him more time with family and the ability to play T20 leagues around the world, while de Grandhomme retired from international cricket shortly after being picked in the BBL draft by Adelaide Strikers.The new inclusions have featured in New Zealand’s limited-overs sides in recent months. Allen is a highly regarded talent who can expect to be included for the upcoming T20 World Cup. He has already made 334 runs at a strike rate of 169.54 in 13 T20I innings. He has also played eight ODIs, making a vital 96 on the tour of the West Indies last month and impressing when he came back into the team for the final match against Australia in Cairns.”Finn clearly has huge talent and potential,” New Zealand head coach Gary Stead said. “He’s shown he’s up to the international level in his limited opportunities to date. In particular, his match-winning 96 against West Indies on a difficult wicket in Barbados showed his class and maturity.”Tickner has played six ODIs and 11 T20Is, most recently against Netherlands, and was part of the initial touring squad for the Test series in England earlier this year.”Blair’s been in Blackcaps squads for all three formats over the past 12 months which is testament to his progress,” Stead said. “He’s a bowler who just keeps improving and we’ve been particularly impressed with his red-ball development, which saw him in the recent squads for the England and South Africa Tests. He knows the environment, understands his role, and bowls with good pace and aggression.”New Zealand will name their T20 World Cup squad on September 20. They will prepare for the tournament with a tri-series in Christchurch featuring Pakistan and Bangladesh from October 7 to 14. Their first match of the T20 World Cup is against hosts Australia at the SCG on October 22.

Homegrown James takes career-best figures as defending champions lose by an innings and 30 runs

David Hopps09-May-2021Essex’s Championship defence is running aground. In Somerset and Yorkshire, the two counties most fancied to raise a challenge, anticipation will be growing that this could be their year. They now have one win in five and their second defeat of the season – by an innings and 30 runs against Nottinghamshire – will demand an urgent assessment of why their season is going awry.Even the convenience of a third day lost to heavy rain did not allow Essex to give the slightest indication that they might save the game. They trailed by 95 at the start of play, with seven wickets remaining, and would have needed to bat until tea or thereabouts. Instead, they capitulated on the stroke of one o’clock. With half their group games spent they lie second bottom and need a quick response.Dismissed for 99 on a Trent Bridge greentop in the first innings, they lost their last seven wickets for 38. Faced again by encouraging bowling conditions (how could it be otherwise after Saturday’s deluge?), their last six second-innings wickets fell for 29. There is a lot of onus on their top four to fire and, in this game, Tom Westley and Dan Lawrence failed in both innings.Related

• Luke Fletcher bags six wickets as Essex are bowled out for 99

• Alastair Cook may rue lean Trent Bridge harvest as Steven Mullaney makes hay

• Ben Sanderson, Gareth Berg share 19 wickets as Northamptonshire thrash Sussex

How quickly perceptions can change. Little more than week ago, Nottinghamshire were easy to depict as the county that had tried and failed to buy their way out of decline. But they won at the 31st time of asking, shouldering aside Derbyshire by an innings, and have followed that up by thrashing the champions by an innings.They now top Group One and, although they are surely the Katy Perry of the Championship – “You’re hot then you’re cold, you’re yes then you’re no, you’re in then you’re out, you’re up then you’re down” – they might just surprise everyone for qualifying for the top group with a top-two finish.They even had a homegrown player at the heart of their victory. Lyndon James, a willowy allrounder with close-cropped fair hair, followed up a maiden first-class 50 in Notts’ first-innings with career-best bowling figures of 4 for 51, and 6 for 54 in the match. A product of Caythorpe in the Notts Premier League, he will help lift the reputation of a Notts academy that has often invited criticism in recent seasons.With bat and ball, James looked to be a thoughtful cricketer, and indeed had a season as Notts’ 2nd XI captain. He glided to the crease and swung the ball at the high end of medium pace. Notts have not been entirely sure how to get him into the side, but it is in the middle order where he gives them a better balance, allowing them to pick a spinner as well as lighten the bowling load on the captain, Steven Mullaney.The most striking attribute about Notts’ bowling performance, though, was not the individual but the collective. Their consistency never gave Essex an outlet, and the other batter who did resist for any length of time, Paul Walter, was rendered almost strokeless as his 30 encompassed 106 balls.It soon became apparent that after the deluge, and on a warmer but still cloudy morning, the bowlers would still prosper. Nevertheless, Notts needed early proof of that in the wickets column and Fletcher, who took a couple of overs to find his range, provided it by having Nick Browne caught at the wicket with one that left him.Browne, with two half-centuries in the match, scored 43% of Essex’s runs off the bat. With his departure, the dam had been breached. Four wickets fell for nine runs in 25 balls, three of them to James.He began with a double wicket maiden. Ryan ten Doeschate, who invites an lbw, fell to a big inducker and Adam Wheater was bowled through the gate, driving, second ball, hardly the show of resolve that Essex needed. Walter’s obduracy was then ended by a fast catch to his left, at second slip, by Ben Duckett.James had enjoyed a rewarding Championship debut against Essex in 2018 and now he had visions of his first five-wicket haul, only for Haseeb Hameed to drop Peter Siddle at third slip.When Siddle was ninth out, the second new ball was due and Stuart Broad was meaningfully hanging around the stumps as if he quite fancied bowling with it. Mullaney, astutely, allowed James two more overs to get his maiden five-for, but it was not to be and back-slaps at the end of his spell did not dissuade him from a frustrated grimace and scuff of the turf.

The two have opened 59 times in ODIs, with a tally of 3050 runs, including nine century stands

Vishal Dikshit in Mumbai15-Jan-20202:17

I’m really making the most of my form – Warner

David Warner extended his prolific summer across formats, topping it with an unbeaten century that handed India a drubbing in the opening ODI of the series in Mumbai on Tuesday. Warner’s 18th ODI century was his fourth across formats since the summer started for him back home.Before that Warner had a dismal run during the Ashes in England, putting together all of 95 runs in 10 innings. On Tuesday, Warner said that he was batting well in the nets in England but the runs weren’t coming. Warner then returned home to hit form straightaway, with a T20I century against Sri Lanka, and currently averages 171.57 in 12 international matches this season, with two half-centuries and five centuries – one in T20I cricket, three in Tests and the latest one in ODIs.Warner recalled how he batted for long hours in the nets before the Pakistan Tests, in which he scored consecutive hundreds, including a career-best 335 not out in Adelaide.”Yeah I was hitting them well in England in the nets too and couldn’t get a run on the board,” Warne said at the press conference. “I have a hunger and a desire to score runs all the time. I look back at that little phase there [in England] and it was just a small hiccup. I wasn’t out of form, I was out of runs.”I’m really making the most of it at the moment, my feet are moving well. I’m getting my head over my front leg, my weight is going through the ball. All those small things are coming into play. When you are in that kind of form and touch and everything is going well for you, you have to make sure you are practicing the same and doing all the hard work.”I look back at the beginning against Pakistan, I trained a lot going into the first Test match, JL (Justin Langer) noted to me I had been batting for almost two hours in that session which is unlike me. I didn’t play a Shield game leading in and I felt like I needed to bat time. It put me in real good stead for the summer.”ALSO READ: How Starc and Finch masterminded Australia’s victoryDavid Warner congratulates Aaron Finch on his hundred•BCCI

Warner and Aaron Finch put on a dominating stand like never before against India that was only their second 10-wicket loss at home. Warner said his chemistry with Finch off the field, and their understanding of each other played a crucial role in how they performed on the field. The two have opened 59 times in ODIs, with a tally of 3050 runs, including nine century stands. Against India, they average a staggering 106, having opened 10 times for 954 runs, including three century stands.”The most pleasing thing for me up the other end was seeing Finchy transfer his weight into the ball very well,” Warner said. “He talks about not doing that as consistently, but tonight was probably the best that I’ve ever seen him bat. The way that he played was fantastic. It was great to have that winning partnership and be clinical there and [win] none down.”We complement each other on the field but we’re great mates off the field and I think we know each other’s games so well and personalities that now we can have honest conversations out there. If we’re playing shots that we wouldn’t, we reassure each other about that, it’s purely we complement each other, it’s just great to go out there and play the way that we do. When he’s going, I know what my role is and when I’m going he knows what he’s role is and we communicate that straight away and I think that’s the best thing about our partnership, it works very well.”When asked if Warner saw himself and Finch opening the batting in the next World Cup too, in 2023 in India, Warner brought up a few other factors, apart from form and fitness, into play.”I think we’ll speak to our wives first. We’ll both be 36 or 37, I’ve got three kids – I hope that’s the last one (laughs) – and in that three years you’ve got form, wives, family. Take one step at a time.”

The fast bowler picked up 5 for 100 as Western Australia were bowled out for 251 in their second innings despite Josh Philippe’s maiden century

The Report by Alex Malcolm19-Oct-2018Chris Tremain goes up in appeal•Getty Images

Last season’s leading Sheffield Shield wicket-taker Chris Tremain has picked up where he left off, claiming nine wickets in Victoria’s innings demolition of Western Australia at the WACA ground.Victoria’s march to victory was halted by heavy rain on day three. But despite a sparkling maiden Shield century from Josh Philippe, the game was wrapped up before lunch on day four.Philippe and Cameron Green put on a 78-run partnership for the seventh wicket to frustrate Victoria. Philippe added 17 to his overnight score to reach his century before falling to Scott Boland for 104 from 142 balls.Green watched helplessly from the non-striker’s end as Boland then knocked over Usman Qadir and David Moody for ducks before Tremain trapped Simon Mackin in front for nought to complete his sixth five-wicket haul in first-class cricket. Green finished on 35 not out.Will Pucovski was named Player of the Match for his stunning 243.

Four years since he made an emphatic statement of intent as a formidable allrounder, James Faulkner looks to India for his reintroduction and regeneration

Daniel Brettig11-Sep-20171:31

Faulkner eager to resume Australia duties

It was in India in 2013 that James Faulkner truly announced himself as an international allrounder of substance. Most specifically, his Mohali heist gave rise to the nom de plume “the Finisher”; Ishant Sharma and Vinay Kumar would still get whiplash from thinking about it. Though Australia lost the series, Faulkner went on to be a vital player in a winning World Cup campaign in 2015.Four years on, Faulkner again looks to India for a series of significance, only this time his goal is that of reintroduction and regeneration. It’s barely been a few months since Faulkner lost his Cricket Australia contract and was then omitted from the Champions Trophy squad.The setbacks, at the very least, had the effect of clearing Faulkner’s mind about what he needed to do. Principally, this was to get his body right again after more than a year of nursing a damaged knee, to restore snap to his bowling and freedom to his movement between the wickets and on the field. Strong as he now feels, the question remains whether Faulkner can bring his unique brand of brio and tactical intelligence to the pointy end of an ODI.”Anytime you miss out on selection, it is tough,” Faulkner said in Chennai. “I have a good chance now. I had four months away from the game. I had bit of pre-season which has been nice, a bit of time in my own bed, and to get strong and fit again. I have been battling – to be honest – probably the last 18 months, so it’s been nice to be home with my team-mates in Tassie and hit the gym hard. Just physically with my knee and the state it has been in. It is as good as it’s been at the moment, so I’m pretty happy.”My training definitely changed. I spent a lot of time on the bike; I haven’t spent any time running other than fielding and while bowling in the nets. Have been doing different exercises in the gym, there are certain exercises I can’t do but there is a lot I still can. It is about being disciplined with them and training and working hard. Also reflecting on aspects you need work on as a player because everyone has to get better.”It was pretty tough. I think if you ask any player when you get left out it is not great fun. After a while you are friends and family with your team-mates as well. At the end of the day it is up to you to be back; I am excited to back in the group. I don’t really want to talk about the past. It’s about this series coming up and a good opportunity against very good opposition in their own country.”In terms of opportunity, Faulkner has the good fortune of knowing that nobody has truly made a spot their own in his absence. Marcus Stoinis played the sort of dominant innings Faulkner would have wished to play at the other end at Eden Park against New Zealand in January this year but has not played since. Moises Henriques was preferred by Steven Smith for the Champions Trophy but did not have the desired impact in a team that was swiftly eliminated. And Mitchell Marsh is currently preparing to captain Western Australia as a batsman only while still recovering from shoulder surgery.For Faulkner, a fruitful stint during the India tour could mean a second chance to be part of a winning Australian team•Associated Press

“I didn’t get too much feedback to be honest [on why he was dropped],” Faulkner said. “It was about… they said the pace has dropped down a little bit maybe. I bowl a lot of variations, so it’s a tough one. I didn’t have too much to be honest. I just reflected myself and wanted to get back in the team. I put that aside and worked as hard as I could.”I suppose for me [my strength] is the variation and the death [overs] as well with both the bat and ball. I don’t know about the X-factor, there are a lot of players with the X-factor in both line-ups and that is international cricket. Do as well as I can and play my part in these conditions, which are obviously different from back in Australia.”Australia’s Test players are already well-adjusted to the south Indian heat given their recent experiences in Bangladesh, but for Faulkner and other limited-overs operators there will be a little more time required to acclimatise. Snow and ice have been evident in Faulkner’s Hobart base in recent weeks, so it was understandable that he had worked up a sweat after training. Another southern stater, the Victorian Aaron Finch, will not play in Australia’s sole warm-up match on Tuesday as he nurses a calf niggle.”We are obviously looking forward to playing a warm-up game before the series starts,” Faulkner said. “It is tough conditions here in Chennai, it is hot – I’m here now and I’m still sweating! The boys are eager to get out there and play some good cricket, it is going to be a good series. Last time we were here, we had some good tough cricket, so we are all excited.”There’s a lot of experience in that changing room playing in the subcontinent. Most of the boys have played enough here with the IPL and other series and the T20 World Cup. [India] have played a lot of one-day cricket of late. They are in really good nick right now. It is going to be a test and we’re excited for it.”For Faulkner, that excitement is about a second chance to be part of a winning Australian team.

ESPNcricinfo previews the second ODI between England and Sri Lanka at Edgbaston

The Preview by Andrew Miller23-Jun-2016

Match facts

Friday, June 24
Start time 2pm local (1300 GMT)

Big picture

Eoin Morgan wasn’t buying the euphoria that drenched Trent Bridge on Tuesday night, after Liam Plunkett’s long levers had bludgeoned England to a share of a thrilling contest which, on balance, they deserved to have lost. “We are very lucky to get out of this game with a tie,” he said. “That was as bad as we have performed with the bat over the past year.”Morgan’s honesty was as refreshing as the attitude that had hauled his team back from the brink, both in Tuesday’s contest and, more generally, over the course of the past 18 months. There are genuine and attainable goals in the offing for England’s 50-overs squad in the not-so-distant future, but lapses such as they displayed in their first limited-overs outing since the World T20 final won’t be forgiven by better-drilled opponents.That said, it was no accident that England had the wherewithal to regroup after shedding their top six wickets in the space of 18 ill-disciplined overs. Their astonishing depth of batting is designed for occasions such as these – and you might even argue it is important that players such as Chris Woakes, England’s Man of the Match for his two wickets and 95 match-salvaging runs, are put under pressure to perform rather than allowed to gather dust as luxury tailenders, as has arguably been the case with Moeen Ali in recent months.But then again, it took a crisis to concentrate England’s minds, as if each of the top order had subconsciously been passing the buck to the next man without ever quite assuming responsibility until they really had to. Joe Root, the rock of their renaissance last summer, completed his fourth single-figure score in five innings this summer; Jonny Bairstow, their form man from the Test series, faced six balls all told and should have been out to two of them.Morgan himself fought hard against his troubling recent lack of form but was persistently challenged, and eventually undone, by Sri Lanka’s angle across his bows. But the major exception to England’s ennui was Jos Buttler, whose sojourn with Mumbai Indians perhaps reaped fewer grandstand moments than he had personally hoped for, but certainly sharpened his instinct for rising to an occasion. A brilliant catch on the long-on boundary denied him his fifth ODI hundred (and what would have been his slowest by a distance) but served notice that his team would not be quitting on their task.It was certainly a bitter denouement for Sri Lanka, who had entered the contest with intent following two galvanising triumphs in Ireland and produced, in Seekkuge Prasanna’s thrilling half-century, the most eye-catching performance of the day. The loss, however, of their captain, Angelo Mathews, was probably the difference between victory and the tie. His six overs of wicket-to-wicket wobblers had been just what the surface ordered, but the recurrence of his hamstring injury meant a spell of 2 for 22 was cut off in its prime.In Mathew’s absence, Sri Lanka’s attack closed ranks as best they do – Prasanna’s legspin matched that of the parsimonious Adil Rashid, while Farvez Maharoof, Suranga Lakmal and even the unfortunate Nuwan Pradeep all bowled better than their economy rates would suggest. But in the final analysis England did just enough to overcome their rustiness and salvage a share of the spoils. They will expect better things in Birmingham. The question is, will their opponents?Angelo Mathews underwent a fitness test on his hamstring•Getty Images

Form guide

England: TLLLW (last five matches, most recent first)
Sri Lanka: TWWLW

In the spotlight

His captaincy has been a significant and acknowledged factor in England’s upsurge in recent fortunes, but Eoin Morgan‘s batting remains under a significant cloud. At the World T20, he mustered 66 runs in six matches – almost half of those in the opening fixture against West Indies – and so by that rationale, his return of 43 from 49 balls on Tuesday was a step in the right direction. It was, however, a painstaking knock – understandable to a degree, with England floundering at 30 for 4 when Buttler joined him to begin the rebuilding effort. But despite the odd flash of his most fluent self, most notably a handful of straight drives back down the ground, Morgan is still fighting to unleash the inventive instincts that made him such a stand-out performer in his pre-leadership days.There’s no ignoring the joie de vivre that Seekkuge Prasanna brings to his destructive slogging in the middle of Sri Lanka’s innings. Pinch-hitters are thought to be rather old hat these days – why risk swinging through the line when you can contort your stance and ramp a six into no-man’s land at fine leg? But the combination of a sharp eye and a fearless mind will never go entirely out of fashion, and the glee with which Prasanna brought up his fifty from 24 balls was understandable – at Malahide last week, he biffed 95 from 46 balls so he is enjoying a rare appetite for destruction. Whenever Sri Lanka choose to unleash him, brace for fireworks.

Team news

Plunkett’s retention ahead of Steven Finn for the first match came as something of a surprise but was, in hindsight, due reward for his role in the team that reached the World T20 final. His bowling may not have hit the mark consistently, but his six-hitting heroics amply justified his selection. Finn has been released to play for Middlesex in tonight’s T20 Blast contest against Somerset at Lord’s. Jason Roy, meanwhile, has received an injection for a wrist problem, but batted in the nets and is expected to be fit to retain his place in an unchanged XI.England (probable): 1 Jason Roy, 2 Alex Hales, 3 Joe Root, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Jos Buttler (wk), 6 Jonny Bairstow, 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 David Willey, 10 Liam Plunkett, 11 Adil Rashid.All eyes are on Angelo Mathews as he undergoes a fitness test on the hamstring strain that bugged him during Sri Lanka’s elimination, against England, at the World T20 in Delhi earlier this year, and flared back up during his bowling spell on Tuesday. Sri Lanka are considering dipping into their A-team squad for reinforcements, but the skipper is one man they simply cannot do without. He was rated at 70% on Thursday, pending another test before the match. He’ll surely play on one leg if needs be.Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Kusal Perera, 2 Danushka Gunathilaka, 3 Kusal Mendis, 4 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 5 Angelo Mathews (capt), 6 Upul Tharanga, 7 Seekkuge Prasanna, 7 Dasun Shanaka, 9 Farveez Maharoof 10 Nuwan Pradeep, 11 Suranga Lakmal

Pitch and conditions

As in Nottingham, wet weather over recent weeks means the Edgbaston pitch has not seen much sunshine. But the ground has a reputation for good limited-overs surfaces, as demonstrated by the last ODI held there, when England broke 400 for the first time. Friday’s forecast is for a relatively clear afternoon and evening.

Stats and trivia

• Bittersweet memories for England at Edgbaston in their most recent ODI encounters at the venue. This time last year, they announced the start of their post-World Cup rebirth with their highest ODI score, 408 for 9 against New Zealand
• However, they had lost each of previous five completed ODIs at Edgbaston – three against India, including the final of the Champions Trophy in 2013 – and one against Sri Lanka, who sealed a 3-2 series triumph on their last tour of England in 2014 with a six-wicket win in the fifth and deciding match.
• Sri Lanka’s share of the spoils at Trent Bridge means that the inaugural Super Series remains alive … but only just. England now lead 11-3, meaning that Sri Lanka must win each of the last five internationals (four ODIs, one T20I) to sneak a 13-11 win.

Quotes

“We’re not at all concerned about the top order not scoring runs in Nottingham. If anything we should come out and play even more shots. That’s the way we want to play our cricket. We want to put teams under pressure and there’s no reason to change.”
“We were very good with batting and bowling, the only thing is we have to improve is our fielding. If we fielded well [at Trent Bridge] it would have been a different story but we are improving.”

West Indies allrounder Dwayne Bravo has revealed that his exclusion from the squad for the World Cup did not come as a surprise

Nagraj Gollapudi10-Jun-2015West Indies allrounder Dwayne Bravo has revealed that his exclusion from the squad for the World Cup did not come as a surprise, and he and Kieron Pollard were expecting the axe – which he called a “big joke” – from the West Indies Cricket Board selection panel, headed by Clive Lloyd. He also said the team management was prepared to lose the World Cup before it started and instead build for the next tournament.In an interview with ESPNcricinfo, Bravo said the pair “laughed” when Lloyd sat down the pair in Cape Town in January to explain the reasons he felt they were not fit to be part of the World Cup squad. “We actually laughed when he said it to us. To be honest, we knew it was coming. We know the type of people in charge of our cricket are actually mature enough to make sensible decisions and the right decisions for the benefit of cricket,” Bravo said. “If we had got selected we actually would have been surprised. We expected it. There was nothing that shocked us.”The explanation that they gave us was too many allrounders or they want to try young players, whatever the case might be… Kieron Pollard is 27, I am 31. Also as far as our form was concerned, as I said, the last 12 months I had been West Indies’ best player. So to be left out with those explanations, obviously, all we could have done is laugh. It was a big joke.”Bravo has endured a tough time in the last eight months since he led West Indies’ player boycott on their India tour, during which the team abandoned the series mid-way over a contracts dispute involving the WICB and the players. Subsequently, Bravo was axed as ODI captain and dropped from the World Cup squad despite being one of the top performers in the team in the preceding 12 months before the selection. In January, he announced his Test retirement at the age of 31.Citing West Indies’ poor performance at the World Cup as a shame, Bravo said that the management had gone into the tournament prepared to lose, even as a more senior group had worked for the tournament for three years.”Another World Cup come, finish. They (were) happy with their decision. They were prepared not to win this World Cup,” he said. “It is a shame that before the World Cup even started, they were already prepared to lose and look forward to building for the next World Cup, whereas in the last three years we were building for this World Cup. But it is all water under the bridge now. I am not someone to hold on to anything.”The allrounder finished as the highest wicket-taker in IPL 2015 but said that the performance was not meant to prove a point and he still considers himself “one of the better allrounders in the region”. Bravo welcomed West Indies head coach Phil Simmons’ move to keep the Test team’s doors open for IPL returnees, including Pollard, Sunil Narine, Lendl Simmons and Andre Russell. Bravo said that he was not currently open to the idea of returning to Test cricket.”No. There is a lot more that needs to be changed in order for me to even think of coming back into Test cricket. At the moment I am happy with my decision and I don’t see it changing anytime soon unless something drastic changes.”