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The three remaining teams – Guyana Amazon Warriors, St Kitts and Nevis Patriots and Barbados Royals – all have a shot at the playoffs

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Sep-2025

Jaydon Seales picked up three powerplay wickets and ended with 4 for 15•CPL T20/Getty Images

Jayden Seales’ four-wicket haul and Amir Jangoo’s unbeaten half-century set up a crucial six-wicket win for Antigua and Barbuda Falcons over Guyana Amazon Warriors on Wednesday. The win confirmed Falcons’ place in the CPL 2025 playoffs, with 11 points from ten matches.After Falcons chose to bowl first, Seales struck early and often, ripping through Amazon Warriors’ top order with pace. His opening burst included Moeen Ali falling in the fourth over, followed by the key wickets of Ben McDermott and Shimron Hetmyer in the final over of the powerplay, leaving Amazon Warriors reeling at 26 for 3.Shai Hope’s 14-ball 26, which included three fours and a six, briefly lifted Amazon Warriors. But Usama Mir’s ninth over proved pivotal – he bowled Hope and was involved in the run-out of Hassan Khan at the non-striker’s end.Amir Jangoo guided Falcons home•CPL T20/Getty Images

Amazon Warriors were eventually bowled out for 99 in 18.2 overs, with Mir returning 3 for 17 and Seales 4 for 15.Chasing 100, Falcons stumbled early, losing Andries Gous, Kevin Wickham, Karima Gore, and Shakib Al Hasan inside the powerplay, raising hopes of an Amazon Warriors fightback. However, opener Jangoo anchored the chase with an unbeaten 51. His 57-ball stay, which included three fours and two sixes, ensured there were no hiccups even as more wickets fell around him.Despite tight spells from spinners Moeen (2 for 10) and Imran Tahir (2 for 27), and a couple of late wickets, Jangoo remained composed and guided his team home with four balls to spare.The win marked a significant step forward for Falcons, who become the third team to qualify for the playoffs, joining St Lucia Kings and Trinbago Knight Riders.Mathematically, all three teams in the second half of the table – Amazon Warriors, St Kitts and Nevis Patriots (six points from nine matches), and Barbados Royals (three points from seven) – are still in contention for the final playoff spot. But if Amazon Warriors win their next game against table-toppers Kings on Saturday, they are through to the playoffs, and Patriots and Royals will be out.

The incumbent No. 3 will be the batter under pressure ahead into the World Test Championship final in June

Andrew McGlashan13-Feb-20252:15

Marnus in or out? Finch and Clarke pick their WTC Final XIs

Aaron Finch believes Australia should drop Marnus Labuschagne for the World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord’s in June with his lean run having extended too far to be accommodated.Australia face some tough selection calls for the final following the recent successful debuts of Sam Konstas, Beau Webster and Josh Inglis which has led to a battle for batting spots.Related

• Green hopeful of Shield return and county cricket ahead of WTC final

• Australia emerge from Test season with flying colours and new options

• Australia face Labuschagne call amid batting squeeze

Travis Head, who opened in Sri Lanka, said he expected Konstas to regain his position at the top of the order against South Africa while Cameron Green is in the frame to play as a specialist batter as he recovers from the back surgery that ruled him out of this season.It leaves Labuschagne, who has one century in his last 51 Test innings and an average of 31.54 since the start of the 2023, under significant pressure for his spot for the first time since establishing himself in 2019.”I’ve gone with Cameron Green or Josh Inglis. They’re at No. 3,” Finch said on ESPN’s when the panel was asked to pick their XIs for the WTC final.”And the reason is, I just think that [Labuschagne’s form] is such a concern because it’s been over four series. If it’s over two or three, I think that you can say, you know what, he’s just around the corner. But the fact that it’s been four, to me, that’s a really alarming sign.Marnus Labuschagne is the Australia batter under scrutiny•Getty Images

“Josh Inglis, I think to get him into the side, he will get that opportunity. Or if Cameron Green is healthy, he just provides so much extra to that bowling line-up as well as with the batting. He’s got the ability to bat anywhere in the order.”However, Michael Clarke and Callum Ferguson retained Labuschagne in their sides for the decider although Clarke said it could be make or break.”I hope they pick him for the Test Championship [final],” Clarke said. “It’s completely different conditions against a different team. He’s played a lot of county cricket. He knows English conditions as well as anyone.”Remember, he bats in the hardest place as well. I think No. 3 is the hardest place to bat in Test cricket. You’re right, the numbers don’t tell a lie. He’s out of form. He’s due.”And to me, I reckon the Test Championship…could be his last opportunity. Going to West Indies, I would like to think that’s an opportunity to give a young player a go if Marnus makes no runs in this Test Championship. If he does, then no doubt he holds his spot because he’s been a wonderful player.”Ferguson, meanwhile, would include both Labuschagne and Green with the latter batting at No. 6 and backing for frontline bowlers.”I’m backing the four bowlers in to get the job done in a one-off hit out in a Test match,” he said. “We didn’t use Mitch Marsh a lot over the last few years. He’s been in that No. 6 position. So we’ve played effectively without that stone cold all-rounder in that position, bowling 10 overs a day. So that’s how I see it.”Stand-in captain Steven Smith backed Labuschagne to emerge for his slump, seeing similarities in how he was low on runs before making four centuries in his last five matches.”Marn’s similar to me, in a way,” Smith said. “I’ve said this a lot of times about myself, there’s a difference between being out of form and out of runs.”I don’t think he’s out of form, personally. I’ve watched him train, I’ve watched him play and a lot of the things that he’s done so well are there. He knows he’d love to score more runs, we’d love him to score more runs, but in my opinion, it’s just around the corner.”

Pacer asks cricket authorities to counterbalance prohibition of saliva for ball shining by another measure

Daniel Brettig26-May-2020Cricket runs the risk producing “boring” contests, losing followers of the game and reducing the number of young aspirants to bowl fast if a better balance isn’t struck between bat and ball. These are Mitchell Starc’s views in reaction to the interim ruling offered by the ICC to ban saliva from shining the ball in the time of the coronavirus pandemic.Having bent his back on a succession of unhelpful pitches in home Test matches over the past few summers, Starc argued similarly to his colleagues Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood. He thinks the ICC’s prohibition of saliva, but not sweat, from being used to shine the ball out of health concerns needed to be counterbalanced by another measure.While the ICC’s cricket committee has suggested more sporting pitches could be a solution currently, Starc was understandably wary about the prospect of administrators and ground staff acquiescing to this instruction, and instead pushed for a temporary allowance for an artificial substance with which to polish the ball. This concept, as reported by ESPNcricinfo, was discussed by the ICC committee before being ruled out on the basis that it took the game too far from its existing laws.ALSO READ: Social distancing, ‘safe’ ball management among ICC’s dos and don’ts“I understand that completely and hear what they’re saying in terms of a foreign substance, but whether that can be controlled by the umpires in terms of they have a portion of the wax and you can only use a small amount, I don’t know, but there needs to be a maintaining of the even contest,” Starc said. “I understand what they’re saying with foreign substances and that it’s black and white in terms of that, but it’s an unusual time for the world and if they’re going to remove saliva shining for a portion of time they need to think of something else for that portion of time as well.Getty Images

“Whether it be the wickets being not as flat or at least considering this shining wax to a degree, there needs to be some thought on that I think. I guess you use both those things [saliva and sweat] to shine the ball. I’ve probably been a bit more on the sweat side, just trying to not get my hands in my mouth too much, but yeah, I agree completely with what Pat commented on last week – that contest with bat and ball, we don’t want to lose that or get further away from that even contest, so there needs to be something in place to either keep that ball swinging.”They’ve mentioned that it’s only going to be there for a period of time and then once the world gets back to a relatively normal situation then saliva can come back into shining the ball. But if it’s going to be a window of time there, maybe then instruct people to leave more grass on the wickets to have that contest or if they’re going to take away a portion of maintaining the ball, there needs to be that even contest between bat and ball, otherwise people are going to stop watching, and kids aren’t going to want to be bowlers.”Administrators have long supported the concept of more lively pitches for bowlers, but far too often the practical outcome has been the preparation of surfaces devised to see a Test last for five days, typically producing a very attritional brand of cricket. Starc was clearly casting his mind back to India’s previous tour of Australia in 2018-19, where after two evenly-fought matches on fair pitches in Adelaide and Perth, Virat Kohli’s team ground the Australians into the beige turf of the MCG and SCG to close out the series.”I think as we saw in Australia the last couple of years, there’s some pretty flat wickets, and if that ball’s going straight, it’s a pretty boring contest,” Starc said. “I think Kookaburra have been developing a shining wax or something of the sort, so whether there’s consideration of that, there needs to be some [thought to] maintaining that even contest. Generally the spinners reckon that the wickets that seam a bit also spin, so maybe if you bring the bowlers back into the game, you’ll tick all the boxes.”

The two sides will square off in an ODI series decider for the second time in two years

The Preview by Deivarayan Muthu28-Oct-20171:42

Harris: New Zealand will demand more from the top order

Big picture

If the series opener was about New Zealand’s adaptability – they bumped Colin Munro to the top and launched the sweep-happy Tom Latham in the middle order – then the second match was about India’s bouncebackability. This now means India and New Zealand will square off in an ODI series decider for the second time in two years.Last year, on October 29, India picked three specialist spinners on a slow turner in Visakhapatnam, where New Zealand capsized to 79 all out from 63 for 2. What will Kanpur throw up this October 29? For starters, everyone is coy about the pitch following the “dismissal” or “suspension” of Pune curator Pandurang Salgaoncar for allegedly promising to manipulate the track for the second ODI. Can Munro counter Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s lateral movement and variations? Can Latham find another way if India’s spinners cut off the sweep again?The visitors, though, can draw confidence from Colin de Grandhomme, who handled spin adeptly: he doesn’t use his feet much but is a powerful hitter down the ground. Henry Nicholls wasn’t as fluent but held one end up after New Zealand were pinned down to 58 for 4.India’s middle-order worries have also eased a bit with Dinesh Karthik steering India’s chase of 231 with a busy 64 not out. He also has the vote of confidence from the team management with captain Virat Kohli saying he is “more aware of how to bat in the middle order”. The hosts, however, will have to be wary of the pressure of a must-win situation. Of late, limited-overs cricket has been as easy as eating a sandwich for India, but pressure can do strange things. Case in point: the Champions Trophy final at the Oval, where India froze in their chase.

Form guide

India: WLWLW (completed matches, most recent first)
New Zealand: LWLLL

In the spotlight

From playing just two ODIs in 2016 to becoming the leader of the pack this year, Bhuvneshwar Kumar has ticked all boxes: he has added a yard or two of pace, he bowls the tough overs up front and also at the back end, and also has the knuckle ball up his sleeve. The younger bowlers, meanwhile, are glowing in praise of his inputs. That he is a competent batsman has also stretched India’s batting line-up.From blowing hot in the Champions Trophy, Kane Williamson has blown cold in India. He misread a googly from Kuldeep Yadav in the first ODI, and then played around his front pad against Jasprit Bumrah on Wednesday. New Zealand their captain to fire like he can in the decider.

Team news

Kohli has been tempted to play both wristspinners, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, but Axar Patel, who held his own and nabbed Latham in the second match, is likely to keep his spot ahead of Kuldeep.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Dinesh Karthik, 5 Kedar Jadhav, 6 MS Dhoni (wk), 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Axar Patel/Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal, 11 Jasprit BumrahNew Zealand, too, might stick with the same XI.New Zealand (probable): 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Colin Munro, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Tom Latham (wk), 6 Henry Nicholls, 7 Colin de Grandhomme, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Adam Milne, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Tim Southee

Pitch and conditions

The last time Kanpur hosted an ODI it saw its two highest ODI totals. South Africa ran up 303 for 5, and Kagiso Rabada defied MS Dhoni at the death to limit India to 298 for 7. The weather is expected to be fine for the duration of the match.

Stats and trivia

• New Zealand have played three ODI deciders in India – in 1995, 1999, and 2016 – and have lost them all.
• Virat Kohli needs 83 runs to become the sixth Indian player – after Mohammad Azharuddin, Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and MS Dhoni – and the fastest overall to score 9000 runs in ODIs.
• The last time India lost a bilateral series at home was against South Africa in 2015.

Quotes

“This is again [a] pressure game, it’s a decider. It matters that how we prepare for the match, our preparation for each match has been good. We will try and repeat what we did in the last match. Whatever our strategy and planning was there it’s important that we do it again.”

A double career-best performance from Nathan Buck was the highlight of another hard fought day between Derbyshire and Northamptonshire

ECB Reporters Network15-Apr-2017
ScorecardA double career-best performance from Nathan Buck was the highlight of another hard fought day between Derbyshire and Northamptonshire in the Division Two match at Derby.Buck followed figures of 5 for 68 with 43 out of a ninth wicket stand of 89 with Max Holden who made an unbeaten 68 as Northants recovered from 171 for 8 to reach 291 for 9 at the close in reply to Derbyshire’s 281.Will Davis with four wickets supported by sharp slip catching had put Derbyshire in charge before Buck and Holden kept their side in the game with a fighting partnership in the final session.England batsman Ben Duckett and opening partner Rob Newton made half centuries to give Northants a solid platform but rash strokes transformed the contest after lunch.Buck had taken two of the last four Derbyshire wickets in the morning as the home side added 62 runs with eighth-wicket pair Alex Hughes and Tom Milnes contributing 42 in 11 overs.Northants had the best conditions to bat in and when Duckett and Newton were together in bright sunshine, it looked ominous for the home side until poor shot selection allowed Derbyshire a way back.Duckett had reached 50 with successive fours off Sri Lankan legspinner Jeevan Mendis but he then aimed a big drive at Shiv Thakor and was well taken at second slip by Daryn Smit who did well to knock up an edge from Alex Wakely for Wayne Madsen to take a good reaction catch.Madsen did even better with a one-handed grab to hold Newton’s top-edged cut at Davis and when Northants lost four wickets in eight overs after tea, Derbyshire were poised to take a substantial first innings lead.But Holden and Buck displayed the selectivity the recognised batsmen lacked to frustrate the home side for 20 overs with Buck straight-driving Mendis for six before he went back to the spinner and was lbw.But that was not the end of Northants’ resistance as Holden and Ben Sanderson gave their side a slender lead which had looked highly unlikely when Rory Kleinveldt was caught behind off Davis.It all added up to a disappointing evening session for Derbyshire who also lost Thakor when he left the field with what appeared to be an ankle injury after he went over in his follow-through.

Zimbabwe coach Heath Streak was aggrieved with his side’s body language and their inability to be ‘positive and aggressive’ in a crushing eight-wicket defeat against Sri Lanka in the tri-series opener

Liam Brickhill in Harare14-Nov-2016Zimbabwe coach Heath Streak lost his gruntle. While Zimbabwe was able to take heart from the way they resisted defeat during the Test series, Streak opened the press conference after his side’s eight-wicket thrashing in the tri-series opener by admitting: “I won’t have too many positives today.”Streak seemed particularly vexed by the white flag Zimbabwe raised through their body language. “Your positivity and your mental outlook is affected by your body language and how you’re thinking,” Streak said. “Yes, you may not feel you’ve got enough runs on the board but it doesn’t stop you going out there and being positive and aggressive and supporting your team-mates. Diving around and getting energy going. You don’t need talent to do that. Those are things that anyone can do.”It’s something we talk about a lot, the scoreboard not impacting on your actions and your outlook on what you’re trying to achieve out there. But often it does and for people outside – media, supporters – they see that probably more than the players do inside. It’s certainly something that I’m putting a high priority on addressing.”Though Zimbabwe’s 154 was woefully under par, the tri-series opener really seemed to turn on the first ball of Zimbabwe’s bowling effort. Tinashe Panyangara, returning to the side after overcoming a back injury that kept him out of the squad since June, produced a delivery that curled away to take Dhananjaya de Silva’s outside edge. Almost immediately, however, Umpire Tiffin called a no-ball, and just as quickly Zimbabwe’s vim disappeared. The free-hit was clumped to midwicket, and the floodgates opened. Despite helpful conditions, the bowlers could make nothing more of the game.De Silva, Man of the Match for his unbeaten 78, admitted his dismissal at that stage could “very much” have made a difference to the result. “The ball was seaming around and if I had got out at that time, maybe three or more wickets would have fallen,” de Silva said.’Some guys just threw their wickets away. They could have achieved 200 or 220 and that would have given them a good chance’ – Dhananjaya de Silva•Associated Press

De Silva, who struck a fifty and a ton in the Tests, suggested Sri Lanka too was surprised by the depths of Zimbabwe’s batting woes. “Some guys just threw their wickets away. They could have achieved 200 or 220 and that would have given them a good chance to come back into the game.”No need to tell Streak that. “Certainly we had the tougher side of the batting, but when you look back, bar Chari no one really got a ball that they can say was an unplayable delivery,” Streak said. “Yes, conditions were in their favour, but there were not enough people coming in and saying they got out to a good ball.Despite batting on a green pitch and under gloomy skies in the morning that aided swing, Streak refused to blame the conditions – or the toss – for his team’s collapse. “Having had late rain yesterday, the covers came off late, and we had a bit of drizzle [this morning]. Losing the toss wasn’t great, but it also wasn’t any excuse for how we performed.”The toss has always been in the game of cricket and that’s not something you can guarantee. If you can only win cricket matches when you win the toss then there’s a serious issue to address. For me, today there was an advantage to the toss that would have made it 60-40 in favour of whoever wins the toss, but there are still no excuses for a batting performance like that. PJ Moor and some of the lower order guys like Cremer and Tiripano showed that when you applied yourself there were runs to be scored.”Still, Zimbabwe has three more games to play, and those will be in Bulawayo – Streak’s hometown and conditions he is familiar with. “I said to the guys the only positive for me is that we’ve got three more games,” Streak said.”There weren’t really many other positives. The reality is that we have to bat, bowl and field better than we did today otherwise we’re not going to feature in this series. It’s certainly within their own hands. There’s also lots of work for me and the coaching staff to do, but we talk about people taking responsibility and when you say that generally you’re looking at your senior players to do that. They’re going to have to start putting their hands up.”

Trevor Bayliss, the England coach, made a visit to the match referee on the fourth day of the Dubai Test to voice his concerns that Wahab Riaz deliberately stood on the ball

Andrew McGlashan in Dubai25-Oct-2015Trevor Bayliss, the England coach, made a visit to the match referee on the fourth day of the Dubai Test to voice his concerns that Wahab Riaz deliberately stood on the ball.Wahab and Joe Root were involved in a lively exchange shortly before the drinks break on the fourth evening, which required the umpires to step in to calm tensions.Wahab, at the time striving for reverse swing in his second spell, was fielding behind square to the spinner Zulfiqar Babar. On one occasion, he repeatedly kicked the ball back towards the wicketkeeper instead of picking it up with his hands which, he appeared to gesticulate, were sweaty.At the time, ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball commentary said: “We’ve just seen a bit of footage from during the drinks break of Wahab toeing the ball along the ground with his boot and Root subsequently complaining to the umpires. Bit of remonstrating going on between the two but didn’t look all that scandalous.”It later emerged that the England camp were sufficiently concerned to make an official visit to the match referee, Andy Pycroft. However, the TV pictures did not provide any conclusive evidence of Wahab stepping on the ball. The issue is not expected to be taken any further.Asked about the on-field joust between Wahab and Root, England’s assistant coach Paul Farbrace said: “In the heat of battle you will see the odd exchange between players. The umpires dealt with it, Wahab certainly won’t be signing for Chelsea with his football skills. It happened, you move on. That’s the end of it.”Wahab produced what will likely prove the match-defining spell when he removed England’s middle order on the third morning, as he bowled nine overs unchanged to claim three wickets, including Root caught behind to begin the collapse. He is so far wicketless in the second innings, with the scalps having so far gone to Imran Khan and Yasir Shah.Yasir removed Alastair Cook for the second time in the match after an innings in which Cook appeared to be in significant discomfort. Despite speculation about a groin strain, England have insisted that the captain has not reported any injury.Cook was struggling to run between the wickets as he made 10 off 22 balls before stiffly top-edging a sweep to deep square-leg. The official line is that there was no concern.England played down concerns about Cook’s fitness after the captain fell for 10•Getty Images

Cook has not been fielding in the slips during this Test because he split the webbing on his left hand in Abu Dhabi, which required stitches. He then spent 14 hours at the crease making 263, which he followed with 65 in nearly three hours in the first innings in Dubai.”I’m not aware of any injury, except for the amount of hours he’s spent hunched over a bat handle scoring thousands of runs,” Farbrace said. “He never looks the best mover anyway. I’ve never really seen him flying around, that’s why he’s made such a great success at slip. But because of his hand he’s been out of the slips, perhaps it’s showing up a bit more because he’s not been in the slips during this game.Cook has had back problems at various stages of his career – he struggled at the start of the 2013-14 Ashes tour – but Farbrace said there was nothing more than normal management of him being undertaken.”He does spend time with the physio and masseuse as most players would do. He is someone from time to time who does get treatment on his back, but honestly it’s not something we are spending time talking about. He needs to manage himself and he does that really well. It isn’t a concern for us.”Cook has only ever missed one Test and that came on his first England tour, to India in 2005-06. On that occasion he played in the first two Tests, making a memorable debut century in Nagpur, but was then laid low by a stomach bug and missed the series-levelling victory at Mumbai. If Cook was to miss a Test, Root is the designated vice-captain.

Praveen Kumar has been ruled out of the home limited-overs series against the West Indies and the Test series in Australia, because of a fractured rib

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Nov-2011Praveen Kumar, the India medium-pacer, has been ruled out of the ongoing ODI series against West Indies as well as the Tests in Australia because of a fractured rib. Praveen had a scan on Monday that revealed the fracture and is expected to be out for five to six weeks. A replacement will be named on December 5 for the Tests in Australia.The Indian selectors, who had meetings on consecutive days last week to pick squads for the ODIs against West Indies and the Tests in Australia, had included Praveen for both series. But the BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale informed Kris Srikkanth, the chairman of selectors, on Sunday afternoon that Praveen had suffered from a ‘blunt chest’. Karnataka fast bowler Abhimanyu Mithun was immediately appointed as a replacement.According to the original BCCI media release sent on Monday evening, Praveen had been ruled out only for the first three ODIs of the West Indies series. This came after Virender Sehwag, the stand-in India captain, had said on the eve of the Cuttack ODI that Praveen would be available for the second match on December 3 as he was suffering from “a niggle”.It is understood the selectors were not aware of Praveen’s original injury when they had picked him in the squads for the two series. “On the day of the selection, if there is no adverse fitness report then you assume they are fit,” a BCCI official told ESPNcricinfo. “If you have not reported you are unfit you are assumed to be fit.” According to him the turn of events in Praveen’s case caught the selection committee completely by surprise. “The selectors only came to know a day after the Mumbai Test (which ended three days ago).”This is the second time in 2011 that Praveen has missed an important series because of an injury. Earlier this year a tennis elbow kept him out of the World Cup. Though he suffered an ankle injury towards the end of the England tour, he was India’s best bowler in the Pataudi Trophy. The elbow injury troubled him again after the Twenty20 match against England in Kolkata on October 29. Consequently Praveen asked the Indian board for a two-week break. He then played in a Ranji Trophy match for Uttar Pradesh against Saurashtra in Meerut earlier this month to show his fitness..

Former Mumbai wicketkeeper-batsman Sulakshan Kulkarni has been appointed coach of the Mumbai team

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Aug-2011Former Mumbai wicketkeeper-batsman Sulakshan Kulkarni has been appointed coach of the Mumbai team. The decision was taken at a meeting of the cricket improvement committee (CIC) of the Mumbai Cricket Association, chaired by Chandrakant Pandit, on Monday.Kulkarni, 44, was chosen ahead of Sanjay Bangar, Zubin Barucha, Zulfikar Parkar and Sandeep Dahad. “We discussed all names and their finer points but we finally settled for Sulakshan,” Pandit said. “We also asked [Balwinder Singh] Sandhu (a CIC member) whether he could take up the job but he didn’t want to. It had been too long and we didn’t want to waste time. We wanted to appoint the coach as early as possible.” However, the term of the coach is yet to be fixed.Kulkarni, who is presently coach of the Vidarbha team, played for Mumbai, Railways, Assam and Vidarbha in the Ranji Trophy. He was part of the domestic circuit for 15 years and took 122 catches, made 21 stumpings and scored 3332 runs at an average of 38.29 in 65 matches. He also worked with the Mumbai junior teams before moving to Vidarbha.”What was impressive about Sulakshan was that he is focussed on two important aspects of Mumbai cricket,” Pandit said. “Having a strong bench strength and winning the Ranji Trophy is what he had planned for.”Apart from that, he has passion for Mumbai cricket and the attitude which every Mumbaikar should have,” Pandit said. “He has good strategies to perform and the focus was on having a strong bench strength.””It will be a real challenge for me,” Kulkarni told the . “I have worked here before too, and I’m looking forward to take charge soon. Coaching Mumbai always involves a lot of pride, and there is a great tradition that you have to take stock of.”Kulkarni succeeded former India batsman Pravin Amre, who quit earlier this year after Mumbai lost the 2010-11 Ranji Trophy quarter-finals to eventual winners Rajasthan. During Amre’s five-year stint as coach, Mumbai won the Ranji Trophy three times.The CIC also named former Mumbai captain Milind Rege as the chief selector, with Abdul Ismail, Abey Kuruvilla and Pradeep Kasliwal as part of the selection panel. The Under-19 team will be coached by Satish Samant, with Ravi Thakkar as chief selector.

Graham Thorpe, the former England and Surrey batsman, has been appointed batting coach for the England Lions tour of the United Arab Emirates in February.

Cricinfo staff14-Jan-2010Graham Thorpe, the former England and Surrey batsman, has been appointed batting coach for the England Lions tour of the United Arab Emirates in February. Thorpe, who has been Surrey’s batting coach since 2008, will join an England Lions coaching team which includes David Parsons, ECB Performance Director, and Kevin Shine, ECB Lead Fast Bowling Coach.”I’m really looking forward to the tour and working with the Lions squad,” said Thorpe. “It’s a great opportunity for me and I’m grateful to Surrey for giving me the freedom to take it on. Over the course of my time with the team I hope that I can offer them some good advice and be someone they learn a lot from.””I am delighted to welcome Graham Thorpe as part of the England Lions coaching team and I have no doubt that the squad of aspiring England players will benefit from his experiences both as a hugely successful international cricketer and now a coach,” added David Parsons, the ECB Performance Director. “We will face some tough opposition during our tour of the UAE and the coaching team will be working hard to ensure that we are well prepared.”The three-week Lions tour includes three Twenty20 games against Pakistan A, followed by Twenty20 matches against UAE and England. These will be followed by three 50-over fixtures against Pakistan A at the DSC Stadium, Dubai.