All posts by csb10.top

Shane Watson has been confirmed as Australia’s 44th Test captain on Friday morning and Matthew Wade will be his vice-captain after Michael Clarke was ruled out of the Delhi Test due to his ongoing back injury. Clarke will be sent home to Sydney as soon as possible for scans and it is unclear at this stage when he will be available to play, but his role in the IPL for the Pune Warriors will certainly be in doubt given Australia’s heavy upcoming commitments with the Champions Trophy in England and the subsequent Ashes tour.”Michael injured his lower back during the third Test,” Alex Kountouris, the team physio, said. “Whilst there has been some slow improvement, he is still well short of full function so was unable to train and will not be available to play the fourth Test. The plan is for Michael to return to Sydney as soon as possible to have a series of scans and we will monitor his progress over the coming days before deciding on the best course of action.”We will be taking the opportunity to investigate and manage his ongoing hamstring injury that has been intermittently troubling him since the Australian summer. A decision on his return to cricket will be made once we have evaluated the scans and considered the possible management options.”Clarke’s omission was no surprise given the clear discomfort he was in during the final two days of the Mohali Test and the short turnaround between matches. The Delhi Test will be the first Clarke has missed due to the back problems that have affected him since he was 17. As a result, Watson will lead an inexperienced outfit at the Feroz Shah Kotla, where the Australians will aim to avoid a 4-0 series defeat.Watson’s appointment to the captaincy completes a remarkable fortnight in which he was one of four players stood down from the Mohali Test due to their failure to complete the coach Mickey Arthur’s so-called homework task. He then flew straight home to Sydney for the birth of his first child, along the way causing some controversy with his comments about the “very harsh” punishment of being axed for a Test, but his return to India will add some much-needed experience in Clarke’s absence.”It’s really a dream come true to be asked to captain your country. I’ve captained some one-day internationals, but to be asked to captain a Test will be the ultimate honour,” Watson said. “It’s obviously very disappointing that Michael hasn’t come up, his batting and leadership will certainly be sorely missed, but I’m looking forward to the challenge and responsibility over the next five days.”Michael and Mickey talked to me about it when I first arrived back here in India. It was always going to be touch and go for him to be able to play. I mentally started preparing from there. I am really excited about the opportunity. It’s disappointing that Michael is not going to be fit for this Test match. His batting we are going to sorely miss, the amazing touch he is in at the moment and also his leadership skills as well. Hopefully I can fill the void in some way to help the team finish off on a good note.”It has been a very up and down week emotionally. To be stood down from a Test match hit me very hard and it’s been a great process over the week to get back into the team and contribute again. To have the opportunity to see the birth of my boy – I can never thank Mickey and Michael especially for giving the opportunity to go home. It is the most amazing experience of my life. It’s amazing how if you get through the tough times some nice things come along.”Rod Marsh, the on-duty selector, said Clarke had given himself every opportunity to play but was simply not 100% fit. Marsh said handing the captaincy to Watson was an easy call.”The decision for Shane Watson to step in as captain was a very straight forward one for the national selection panel [NSP],” Marsh said. “Shane is the vice-captain on this tour and as a senior member of the group is well credentialed to lead Australia in Michael’s absence.”The CA board has endorsed the NSP recommendation that Shane should captain Australian in the fourth Test. Shane is an experienced player in Indian conditions and has captained the Australian ODI side nine times. The board also approved the nomination of Matthew Wade as vice-captain for this Test which will be a great experience for the young wicketkeeper.”

While the political storm over Sri Lankan players’ involvement in the IPL rages in India, Angelo Mathews has insisted his side is focussed solely on the series at hand, against Bangladesh. Sri Lanka have an ODI and Twenty20 to play before the tour is completed, and must win the final game to take the series, after rain forced the abandonment of the second match.Ten of Sri Lanka’s playing XI for the first two ODIs have been contracted to IPL teams for the 2013 season, and most players had planned to leave for India as soon as their national commitments for this series had been fulfilled. Nuwan Kulasekara will not be joining his IPL side as scheduled, however, after the Chennai Super Kings franchise instructed both him and Akila Dananjaya to postpone their travel to Chennai, and although the remaining players will travel to India as planned, they will not be play any league matches in Tamil Nadu.The BCCI had ruled on Tuesday that no Sri Lankan player would participate in matches in Chennai, and Sri Lanka Cricket reinforced that rule on Wednesday, when they decided to add a caveat to the players’ no objection certificates, stating they cannot play matches in Tamil Nadu. “Based on a note sent by the minister of external affairs regarding the safety of players, and reports appearing in the electronic and print media, it was decided that the no objection certificates issued to the players be restricted to exclude their appearance at any venue in the state of Tamil Nadu, and also to obtain the Players’ personal opinion on their willingness to participate in the event,” a release said. The players are understood to be largely satisfied with the security arrangements elsewhere in India.SLC had effectively cleared Sri Lanka’s schedule to accommodate the full IPL tournament by cancelling a Test tour of the West Indies, and postponing a Test series against South Africa until 2015 – though the latter was also due to a scheduling conflict with the Sri Lanka Premier League. The indebted board relies on income from the IPL, which comes in the form of a 10% cut of player salaries.Although the players have been urged by some, including Arjuna Ranatunga, to boycott the IPL, they are unlikely to do so, particularly given they have the board’s implicit support to play in the tournament. Some players had flights changed, so as to avoid being routed through Tamil Nadu, but will join their teams as planned over the next week.Mathews said he and his team were aware of the evolving situation, but had left the decision in the hands of the two boards. “As far as the players are concerned, we’ve got nothing to do with it. We’ve always enjoyed playing in India. But there is a situation and the cricket board will let us know on that. As far as the team is concerned we’re not very much bothered.”It’s not a distraction at all. We’re not concentrating on the IPL right now. We’ve got one ODI and a Twenty20 against Bangladesh to go, so we’re concentrating on that. Maybe after the two games, we can look into it, but for now we’re not interested in it.”

Ashley Giles has promised to be “ruthless” in his role as coach of England’s limited-overs sides. Giles could reflect with some satisfaction on England’s ODI series victory in New Zealand – their first such success in the country in more than two decades – but knows he has some tricky decisions to make ahead of the Champions Trophy in June.Giles’ main issue is how to accommodate the return of Kevin Pietersen – rested for the ODI series in New Zealand – into the Champions Trophy side. England’s decision to rest players from ODI series – Pietersen in New Zealand and Jonathan Trott in India – allowed Joe Root an opportunity which he grasped impressively, leaving England wrestling with the issue of fitting six batsmen into five available spaces for the June event. While Alastair Cook is certain to play alongside a wicketkeeper and five bowlers, the remaining five batsmen – Pietersen, Trott, Root, Ian Bell and Eoin Morgan – would appear to be competing for four places.But if anyone feared sentiment may play a part in the decision making – two of those five, Bell and Trott, are former team-mates from his days with Warwickshire – Giles was quick to dispel such doubts.”I have to be more ruthless as a coach,” Giles said. “You are not being nasty, but you’ve got to make strong decisions. When you drop someone, you always look them in the eye. Sometimes it will fall to the captain, sometimes I might do it, but all you can do is to be honest. If your performance isn’t good enough, I’m going to tell you. I don’t expect you to like it, but it doesn’t change the conviction behind the decision. Players are selected to perform and ultimately we have to pick the side that we think will win games.”The most difficult decisions are when you leave players out and you never do that lightly. If you don’t step in, and everyone else can see you should be doing it, you lose respect quite quickly.”With the Champions Trophy being in English conditions we have the opportunity to do really well. I’ll go away and look very closely at Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, the other teams in our group. But we don’t want to get too cute with the game. The formula with which we play is pretty simple but homework on the opposition, like bowling very straight to Ross Taylor, is important.”Giles also plans to speak to the coaches at many of the counties to ensure that their plans and those of England are in harmony. Most pertinently, he will speak to Somerset about their wicketkeeping plans. At present Jos Buttler, now first-choice with the gloves in ODI and T20 cricket, is denied the gloves at Taunton by Craig Kieswetter. Giles hopes to persuade the club to reverse that policy with a view to providing Buttler with more experience.Somerset are likely to oblige. Not only do they have a record of accommodating England – they drafted Andrew Strauss into their team in 2011 when he required match practice ahead of the India series – they also have a strong relationship with Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, who was previously chairman of the club. The fact that they are keen to host ODI cricket may not be irrelevant, either.”I will be speaking to Somerset about both players,” Giles said. “Obviously we have a responsibility to Craig, who I’m sure wants to get back playing for England but Jos is keeping for us now.”Craig wasn’t left out of the squad, it was by mutual consent really. The opportunity had gone for him. With Jos taking the gloves and Jonny Bairstow being next in line it made sense on both sides for Craig to go home and get his game in order.Ashley Giles: “I can’t tell Somerset what to do, but it’s pretty obvious that Jos [Buttler] needs to keep wicket now”•Getty Images

“I hope to speak to most of the directors of cricket at counties about the players involved this winter and how we think they can improve. I can’t tell Somerset what to do, but it’s pretty obvious that Jos needs to keep wicket now. It is a very different situation for Somerset, though, because they have a duty to help Craig get back into international cricket. I don’t envy their position and Jos, Somerset and Craig will have to discuss it.”Somerset would be understandably reluctant to lose either Buttler or Kieswetter. Both were schooled locally and have long careers ahead of them in the game. But, in the long-term, it could be that one of them feel the need to leave for more opportunity elsewhere.Nor is the issue just at Somerset. Ben Foakes, the England Lions keeper, also requires first team cricket if he is to progress, but is currently denied the gloves at Essex by the continuing excellence of James Foster. Giles may also reflect on the situation at Warwickshire, where Trott tends to open the batting in domestic limited-overs cricket and Bell comes in at No.3; a reversal of their England roles.While Giles will now return to the UK, his work as England’s limited-overs coach continues. Firstly he will stop off in Australia where England Lions are struggling against their Australian counterparts while, following a full series debrief with Cook, Giles will further the planning ahead of the Champions Trophy allowing Andy Flower to concentrate on England’s Test plans.”Cooky is an exceptional bloke,” Giles said. “I hope we don’t agree on everything because it would be dull but we’re singing from a similar hymn sheet on most stuff.”We had three hours when we talked about a number of things going forward. By the time he gets home a lot of time will have passed so it was important we knocked around ideas and I’ll take them home to work on. It was a really good chat.”Sometimes you do fall into one-day games on the back of a major Test series. It suddenly catches up with you and it’s a case of ‘let’s get the white balls out and get on with it.’ But now it’s my job to make sure we have a very clean switch between forms. The idea is that I will be looking at opponents and venues for the Champions Trophy very closely now.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsChittagong Kings scored a 54-run win over second-placed Dhaka Gladiators in Chittagong, much to the delight of the throngs of their supporters at the MA Aziz Stadium. Though, the match turned out to be lop-sided, Kings took two vital points and moved to third-position on the points-table.Kings effectively finished the contest within the Powerplay overs as they reduced Gladiators to 15 for 4. Josh Cobb, the opener, left a huge gap between bat and pad to Arafat Sunny before Anamul Haque and Owais Shah were out trying to force the pace. Darren Stevens then got involved in a mix-up with Mohammad Ashraful and was left stranded in the middle of the pitch.Gladiators lost regular wickets to slip to 43 for 7 by the 12th over and were in danger of getting all out in less than 20 overs, but the tail-enders survived till the end. Gladiators finally made 88 for 8, the lowest total in the competition. Jacob Oram gave away just seven runs and took two wickets in his four overs while left-arm spinner Elias Sunny, his new-ball partner, accounted for two too.Earlier, captain Brendan Taylor smashed 41 off 31 balls and Naeem Islamstruck six boundaries and a six in his 38-ball 50 to give Kings agood base. Taylor’s innings ended when Mahbubul Alam took a spectacular catch on the on-side boundary.Kings, however, collapsed from 4 for 131 to 142 all out against a Gladiators bowling attack which didn’t include Mashrafe Mortaza and Shakib Al Hasan pulled. Alfonso Thomas, Kaushal Lokuarachchi and Mosharraf Hossain took two wickets each.

ScorecardServices captain Soumik Chatterjee won the match batting bravely with an injured leg•Dainik Dabang Dunia

Soumik Chatterjee, the Services captain, unable to walk with a badly injured left knee, dragged himself out at 54 for 5 in a chase of 113. He went on to pull the rampaging Uttar Pradesh fast bowlers for fours and sixes. He hopped on one good leg from one end of the pitch to the other for several singles. Fittingly, he stepped out to loft Ali Murtaza over mid-on to end the match. Uttar Pradesh, the best side of the Ranji league stage, had been beaten by the promoted toppers from a humble Group C before tea on the third afternoon of the five-day quarter-final.While Chatterjee’s brave effort made him the star of the chase, fast bowler Suraj Yadav, with a career-best haul of 7 for 71 in UP’s second innings, and Rajat Paliwal, with a century in Services’ first innings and an unbeaten 32 in the chase, were the chief architects of the win.For UP, they will look back to the moment early this morning when their last specialist batsman Arish Alam, backing up at the non-striker’s end, was caught short of the crease by an Eklavya Dwivedi drive that burst out through the bowler Yadav’s hands. Alam and Dwivedi had batted without bother till then, and had already added 33 for the day in just under seven overs.Alam had just reached his 50, and his fall took most of the fight out of UP. Dwivedi was trapped leg-before next over by Nishan Singh. Piyush Chawla flailed a pitched-up delivery straight to first slip, exactly the same way he had fallen in the first innings. During his short stay, he had already been caught in the same manner, off a Yadav no-ball.Strongly-built fast bowler Imtiaz Ahmed fought back, like he had in the first innings, with calm hitting that would have done a specialist batsman proud. Even as Services posted eight men on the boundary, Imtiaz nonchalantly swung four sixes over them.He also started to protect the No. 11 Sudeep Tyagi, but Yadav needed just the one delivery in the 78th over to flatten Tyagi’s off stump.Services needed just 113, but Ankit Rajpoot, the young UP fast bowler, was to make it really hard for them. After Nakul Verma started brightly with a few fours, Rajpoot started striking. Soon after lunch, Services slumped from 29 for 0 in the eighth over to 54 for 5 in the 14th.Verma was caught at gully after a slash was fended away by one of the slips, Avishek Sinha was bowled trying to work it to leg, Soumya Swain hit it low to gully, Yashpal Singh went lbw first ball pushing forward, and Anshul Gupta lost his off stump on the defensive push.Services, full of spirit and bravado but lacking in big-match experience, were still 59 short. In walked Chatterjee, and slowly, the game swung again Services’ way. He would wait a bit till he was certain he could make it across for a single, and then drag, limp and hop his way along. He would push his fit right leg forward, cover the line of the delivery, and defend it if it was on the stumps, or let it go by holding the bat inside the line.Paliwal, solid at the other end, steered Imtiaz over the cordon for four to ease some of the pressure. Chatterjee summoned enough strength to pull Rajpoot over square leg for four on one leg. He bettered it by pulling Tyagi for six, and Paliwal slog-swept Chawla in his only over for six over deep midwicket. The hundred or so spectators cheered every Services run, as did their dressing room. About an hour after he had slowly made his way to the middle, Chatterjee was holding his arms out to his rushing team-mates. UP had been unbeaten through the league stage, and it had taken something special from an injured captain to bring them down.

It took five games for a struggling Karnataka to get their first win of the season, but with only 11 points on the board their captain Vinay Kumar is bullish about making the quarter-finals, if they can make the most of their three remaining games. Playing in familiar surroundings at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, Karnataka picked up six points from their victory over Delhi on Tuesday which meant they were no longer the bottom-placed team in Group B, jumping to sixth. With their next two games also at home (in Mysore and Hubli), Vinay felt two more wins would help them get a foot in the door in the quarter-finals.”It was a good win and there were some positives to take from the game,” Vinay said. “Now we’ve got 11 points. In the next three games, two are home games, one’s away. Hopefully we’ll get another two outright wins and make the quarter-finals.”The pitch had a crucial role to play. Karnataka were desperate for a result to arrest their slide, and a grassy pitch was prepared to encourage a win. It was a sort of pitch suited for the seamers to make a mark on the opening day, but Vinay took the gamble of batting first. You had to ask why a team struggling for runs through the season would throw its batsmen in the deep end at a crucial stage in the tournament.From an armchair critic’s perspective, it was a surprising decision but Karnataka saw things differently. It was a question of seeing off the new ball and waiting for the afternoon session to start piling on the runs. However, the decision was questioned on the opening day when Karnataka were bowled out for 192.Their bowlers did a decent job to not allow Delhi run away with an imposing lead, keeping it to 66. Karnataka’s openers, Robin Uthappa and KL Rahul got their heads together to build a stand of 140. Delhi hit back with quick wickets but the hosts’ middle order ensured a more than handy lead, enough to ensure they couldn’t lose.If given a similar pitch, Vinay said he would still opt to bat. “It was a good wicket to bat on,” he said. “In any wicket, the first one hour will be crucial. We lost three wickets in the first hour. So, if we get the same kind of wicket, we’re definitely going to bat first.”The pitch had eased out for the batsmen on the fourth day, and with the Mithun Manhas-Rajat Bhatia duo standing in the way of Karnataka’s plans of chasing a win, Vinay realised he had to try something different in the field to force mistakes. He continued to attack, and persisted with his seamers from both ends.Manhas’ untimely dismissal, caught off a top edge, gave Karnataka a big opening, but Vinay felt that Bhatia’s wicket, caught brilliantly by Kunal Kapoor at silly point, turned the game.”Till tea, we tried many things, but nothing happened,” he said. “The catch that Kunal took was amazing. That’s where the game turned. The fourth-day wicket was very good to bat on. We knew when the new ball was due, we would have a chance.”While Karnataka can toast their success, there’s still plenty to be done if they are to be contenders for the quarter-finals. They need bigger contributions from their batsmen. So far, the team has only two centuries, both scored in a high-scoring draw in Chennai. In this game, both Uthappa and Stuart Binny were in sight of centuries but fell in the eighties.Their performance against Delhi was a big improvement from their previous game against Odisha, where none of the batsmen passed fifty. Having made 475 in the second innings, Vinay acknowledged the improvement but felt it was time his frontline batsmen started converting their scores. He said the bowling attack had a more settled look, and wasn’t in favour of going with four frontline seamers, given that the lone spinner KP Appanna was underused in this game.”It (playing four seamers) means that one will be underbowled. If it’s the three of us and Stuart (Binny), it’ll be easier for us to rotate the bowlers. Appanna is also there, he got three crucial wickets in this game. So, we don’t think four seamers is a good option.”

Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Jonathan Trott dug in for a vital, unbeaten half-century that pushed England towards safety in the match•BCCI

Jonathan Trott helped settle a slightly nervy England as they closed in on a famous series victory in Nagpur, reaching the close of the fourth day with a lead of 165. He and Ian Bell added 67 for the fourth wicket after India had given themselves a glimmer by removing Kevin Pietersen shortly after tea with England’s advantage still less than 100. Now England are a solid morning session away from their goal.While India’s bowlers did a respectable job on a pitch that refused to break up, their approach in the morning session had been bizarre as they plodded along for 13 overs adding just 29 runs before MS Dhoni finally declared with a narrow deficit. Batting so defensively did nothing but take time out of the game, a situation England were quite happy to go along with. Since India lost quick wickets yesterday evening their only hope has been third-innings panic, which has happened in the past when a draw is the favoured result.When Pietersen fell, inexplicably shouldering arms at Ravindra Jadeja as Trott did in the first innings, England were tottering on 94 for 3 and Dhoni’s hopes were far from dead. Due to the scoring rate of less than two an over – England did not break that barrier until the 62nd over – the lead had not been carried far away from India and the one batsman thought most likely to do that was the one walking back.Trott, though, played a superb hand, timing the ball as well as anyone has managed on this docile surface. He was off the mark first ball with a sweep and regularly picked off deliveries through the leg side. There was also a curious route for one of his nine boundaries when the ball slipped out of Jadeja’s hands, during his delivery, and lobbed towards the on side. As Trott was completely within his rights to do he skipped out and smashed the no-ball to the square-leg fence.It was also an innings that created some spice in the match. On 43, Trott went to cut Ishant Sharma and India were convinced there was an edge but Kumar Dharmasena, who had earlier made a mistake in giving Alastair Cook caught behind, was unmoved.Next ball Sharma followed through close to Trott, who responded by blowing a little kiss, and tensions began to grow. At the end of the over there were heated exchanges with the umpires involving Dhoni and Virat Kohli – a likely future India captain, who did not carry himself very well. Meanwhile, a few minutes later, Snickometer (which would not be part of DRS were it in use) did not register any sound.Trott was unmoved and, in fact, probably motivated further. He went to 49 with an off-drive against Sharma, a rare shot on this slow pitch, and next ball had his half-century from 106 deliveries. India, however, were still festering. Towards the end of the day R Ashwin pulled out of a delivery and warned Trott for backing up too far. It belied the growing frustrations.Bell provided solid support following the potentially vital loss of Pietersen. It was an important period for him after a lean series – he will need to continue on the final morning – and he collected runs calmly. There was one moment of fortune when he edged Ashwin through a vacant slip where two balls earlier Virender Sehwag had been stood. The fourth-wicket stand came at almost three an over, a largely unseen rate in this match.The day brought a total of 190 runs, but midway through it did not appear even that total would be reached. After India’s strange approach, Cook and Nick Compton put all their efforts into ensuring against early mishaps for England. Progress was at snail pace but, especially for Cook, there was too much at stake to suddenly try anything too flamboyant.The first boundary of the day did not come until five minutes before lunch, when Compton edged Ashwin to third man, and Cook had reach 5 from 78 deliveries when he slotted away a cover drive.For the second time in the match Cook was removed through an umpiring error from Dharmasena when he played forward to Ashwin and the ball spun past the outside edge. There was a strong appeal, and a noise, but replays confirmed that Cook’s bat had struck the ground and he had missed the ball. It left Cook with a match tally off 14 off 121 balls but it did nothing to dilute the epic nature of his series, which ended with 562 runs.Compton’s solidity alongside Cook has been one of the major plusses to come out of this series. His defence had been firm throughout the afternoon session but in the final over before tea he was given lbw to Ojha. Replays suggested an inside edge but the ball was also caught in the gully so the presence of DRS would only have changed the mode of dismissal.At that point it had been one of the more forgettable days of Test cricket in recent memory, but the final session was far more entertaining for a variety of reasons. There will be debate about how India handled themselves, but at least it showed the passion remained. That has not always seemed the case in this series. England, though, as they had done on Saturday, did not lose their cool and finished the day stronger. They are very close now.

The MCC will review the Laws of the game following the incident at Headingley when Graeme Smith was reprieved following an edge to first slip, off a delivery from Steven Finn that had already been called dead ball, due to the bowler dislodging the bails at the non-striker’s end with his knee.Umpire Steve Davis called dead ball, citing Law 23.4(b)(vi), stating that Smith, who was on 6 at the time, had been distracted by Finn’s right knee breaking the stumps in his delivery stride. It later transpired that both batsmen had previously complained to the umpires that Finn’s habit of knocking into the stumps was off-putting.Finn had collided with the stumps three times in his first couple of overs without Davis intervening but, starting with the ball Smith edged, Davis called dead ball every time Finn dislodged the bails, twice on occasions when Smith hit boundaries.However, James Anderson said the umpire had not alerted them about the situation. “It was frustrating for us because the umpire didn’t warn us he was going to do it but the batsmen said it was distracting and they had been in the umpire’s ear. Finny was told to be careful because it was distracting the batsmen, at no stage was he told it would be called dead ball”There is nothing in the rules that says the umpire can’t do that. It’s strange that no batsmen have complained about it before and he has done it 50 times this summer if they thought it was distracting and they told the umpire, then fair enough.”AB de Villiers, though, insisted a warning had been given: “Graeme and Alviro made the point between balls. Steve said there was going to be a warning. He could easily have turned it down and say it won’t be a dead ball.”Law 23.4(b)(iv) states that either umpire should call and signal dead ball when: “The striker is distracted by any noise or movement or in any other way while he is preparing to receive, or receiving a delivery. This shall apply whether the source of the distraction is within the game or outside it. The ball shall not count as one of the over.”The MCC, who have been the custodians of the Laws since their formation in 1787, subsequently issued a press release that underlined the impression that there is a grey area in the Laws in relation to the issue.”Whether the batsman is distracted – or indeed has time to be distracted – is a moot point,” the MCC stated. “Smith hit two subsequent balls for four when Finn had broken the wicket but the runs were disallowed as dead ball had been called. If the striker really feels he is distracted, he can try to pull away and make no attempt to play the ball, although this may not always be possible with a fast bowler like Finn.”A precedent may have been set but it remains to be seen whether dead ball will be called on each occasion that this happens for the remainder of the match. Unlike some other Laws, there is no specified warning procedure for this situation. MCC’s Laws sub-committee will discuss the matter at its next meeting and will work closely with ICC on issuing guidance to umpires.”Of course, what the umpire feels is distracting to the batsman is entirely subjective, but Davis was within his rights to signal dead ball if he was sure that Smith was indeed distracted.”There is precedent for Davis’ decision. Earlier this season, in a first-class game between Cambridge MCCU and Lancashire, the umpires called dead ball in similar circumstances. Cambridge seamer Peter Turnbull, like Finn, was also in the habit of dislodging the bails with his leg in his delivery stride and, after the Lancashire batsmen complained to the umpires about the distraction at the lunch interval, it was decided that all such repeat occurrences would result in the ball being called dead.The issue of ‘repeat offending’ may be key here. The MCC are reluctant to intervene in one-off issues where bowlers brush the bails with their hand as they pass the stumps, but Finn and Turnbull have gone through periods of bashing into the stumps unusually heavily and unusually often. Finn has been working with Middlesex bowling coach Richard Johnson on trying to eradicate the problem from his game.In retrospect Australia’s captain, Michael Clarke, who was bowled in the NatWest Series at Chester-le-Street when Finn also collided with the stumps, may reflect that he missed a trick in not complaining about Finn’s habit earlier.”We will discuss amending the Laws,” Fraser Stewart, Laws manager at the MCC, told ESPNcricinfo. “But we will not rush into anything.”While it is true that the Laws would be clarified if they stated that every delivery would be called dead if the bails were dislodged, there are good reasons that is not the case. Nowhere in the Laws does it say that, whenever this happens, a dead ball must be called, and there is a danger that club umpires on Saturday will suddenly start thinking that they should.”The fact that Finn is a repeat offender may be relevant. Unlike the Laws on bowlers running on the pitch, there is no element of ‘three strikes and you’re out’ about this. There is, instead, an element of subjectivity.”The ICC will need to get the various managers together – we have already been in communication with them – and we will discuss the issue at the next Laws sub-committee meeting. It would easy to react in a knee-jerk way, but we will sit down and calmly analyse the situation.”

ScorecardScott Styris pulled out a tremendous performance•Getty Images

The recruitment of overseas players has been a critical aspect of producing success in county cricket since the beginning of the policy. Sussex recruited a Twenty20 specialist in Scott Styris and his blistering 37-ball hundred sent them to their third finals day.By contrast Gloucestershire, whose signing of Ian Harvey helped them to dominate one-day cricket at the turn of the century, had ageing Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan bowling four overs in the middle of the innings and being a liability in the field. It was his missed run out of Styris when in single figures that proved tremendously costly.An almighty mix up produced the chance for Muralitharan to take the throw from short fine-leg two yards from the stumps and remove the bails – as he had done in his previous over to run out Matt Prior. But Muralitharan attempted a throw at the stumps, missed, and the Styris rampage began.It was exactly the innings one expects from a marquee signing and the type of innings that Styris himself admitted was the overseas player’s responsibility to play. He did not shy away from his duty. It was fantastic hitting. Such clean ball-striking. The joint-third highest T20 hundred taking only 37 balls.Styris kicked into gear in the final six overs – all of which went for double figures. Those overs had followed a period during which Gloucestershire’s two spinners, Muralitharan and especially Ed Young, bowled well and forced the batsman to work them around – from the end of the Powerplay until the 14th over only three boundaries were scored.But once the seamers, who, despite an excellent start with two quick wickets had conceded 67 in the Powerplay, returned, it was back to a boundary fest. A match-changing 115 runs came off the final six overs and Styris was responsible for most of it. Nine sixes he struck, the best of them played with a clean face down the ground.Most of the run scoring was accountable for in T20 cricket but the 18th over from James Fuller was totally inexplicable. Just when Gloucestershire had a chance to build on the work of their spinners, they were taken out of the game. Fuller has the tools – a solid action and pace – to become a fine bowler but his character will be severely tested after this humiliation.He began with a beamer that went for six no-balls. Then overstepped bowling a yorker which was edged for four to fine leg. The free hit was a full toss which went over square leg – that brought up Styris’ 50 from 24 balls. Another full toss followed: another six, this time down the ground, before a back of a length ball was carved fine of third man for four more.Mercifully for Fuller a dot ball relieved the carnage but there was more to come. A top-edged pull went to fine leg for four and then, as the Sussex fans pointed their thumbs down for the kill, Styris smashed another six over long on. 38 had come off the over – the most runs in an over in professional cricket.The final two overs went for 14 and 19 but seemed run-of-the-mill after Fuller’s annihilation. It completed Sussex’s sixth score above 200 this season. It was also the highest score in the competition this year.It was hard to reflect on anything but Styris’ second T20 hundred, reached in the final over with the help of two more sixes. But there were other demonstrations of the batting talent that has made Sussex so successful this season. Some of it was provided by Matt Prior – again demonstrating his one-day credentials – with his own brutal innings. He made 60 in 38 balls having gone hell for leather to recover Sussex’s terrible start.They were 7 for 2 after two overs but Prior swung at almost every ball, blasting Gloucestershire’s young seamers all around the park, playing two deliciously timed sweeps over midwicket, to ensure the momentum was regained and the Powerplay maximised – they made 67 for 2: 60 from four overs. And they had the perfect foil for the hitters: Goodwin, who made a completely overshadowed 55.Gloucestershire were in a hopeless position trying to chase such a score. They do hold the world-record for the highest T20 domestic total but that was made last year with a Kevin O’Brien hundred. This year they lack a major hitter and as useful as the cameos from Hamish Marshall, Dan Housego and Alex Gidman were for an ordinary innings, it was not the freakish batting that was needed.Styris also took a wicket and a run out to conclude an evening that had the Sussex management patting their backs on a rather good recruitment decision.

The New South Wales batsman Kurtis Patterson is one of three players with senior state cricket experience named in Australia’s squad for the Under-19 World Cup. However, the Australians have not yet named a captain for the tournament, which will be held in Queensland in August and at which they will be the defending champions after Mitchell Marsh led his side to the title in New Zealand two years ago.Patterson, who scored 157 in his Sheffield Shield debut last summer, will be joined in the 15-man squad by the batsman Travis Head, who made a promising start to his career for South Australia last season, and Cameron Bancroft, who has played for Western Australia. The batsman Meyrick Buchanan, who played on game for the Melbourne Renegades in the inaugural Big Bash League, has also been included.”Overall, I think we’ve got a squad that’s pretty well balanced with good batting depth, a variety of bowling options which includes good pace bowlers and a couple of excellent developing spinners,” Greg Chappell, Cricket Australia’s national talent manager, said. “Playing at home in Queensland will always place more of a spotlight and expectation on this team to do well in front of a home crowd and in familiar conditions, but we know this is going to be a fierce challenge against quality opposition.”We played Pakistan in the 2010 final in Christchurch and two years before that India won the title so we know the subcontinent teams are always very strong and that is no different whether we play them away or at home. We also saw a very good West Indies outfit last year in Dubai and in the quad series this year we saw first-hand an attacking England outfit and a talented New Zealand line-up, along with the Indian side.”There is no doubt this is going to be huge challenge for our team but we’ve had some very good preparation and we’ll continue that right up to the World Cup by playing Pakistan on the Gold Coast later this month.”The side will be coached by Stuart Law, as part of his new role as high performance coach at the Centre of Excellence. Law said he was looking forward to steering Australia’s young cricketers through a challenging tournament.”The ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup is the pinnacle for players at this age level,” Law said. “You only have to look back at the last couple of tournaments to see the quick progress some players have made. India’s 2008 captain Virat Kohli is now established at international level, while we’ve seen 2010 Australian representatives Mitch Marsh and Josh Hazlewood quickly advance to an opportunity within the Australian team in limited-overs cricket.”There’s no bigger challenge than playing against the best players from around the world and the Under-19 World Cup provides that opportunity for players of this age. We know it’s going to be challenge and playing at home only lifts that expectation but we’re certainly looking forward to the tournament.”Prior to the World Cup, Australia will play a three-match series against Pakistan on the Gold Coast, in preparation for their title defence. The squad for that series will include the 15 men named for the World Cup, along with extra players Sebastian Gotch, Joshua McClelland and Alex Gregory.Under-19 World Cup squad Ashton Agar (Vic), Cameron Bancroft (WA), William Bosisto (WA), Meyrick Buchanan (Vic), Harry Conway (NSW), Sam Hain (Qld), Travis Head (SA), Joel Paris (WA), Kurtis Patterson (NSW), James Peirson (Qld), Gurinder Sandhu (NSW), Mark Steketee (Qld), Nicholas Stevens (Qld), Ashton Turner (WA), Jack Wildermuth (Qld).