A look at how the Australians have fared in the county circuit as the ‘A’ tour and the Ashes edge closer

Alex Malcolm21-May-2019#AsheswatchJoe Burns’ stint with Lancashire lasted just one game – in which he made 10 – as he flew home for personal reasons. No date has been set for his return. He was signed for 10 games. Queensland Cricket has asked for his privacy at this time in a statement. “He has advised his goal is to be back playing cricket as soon as possible.” Cricket Australia has also been kept in the loop with Burns’ situation.South Australia’s Jake Lehmann has replaced Burns in the Lancashire squad for their clash against Worcestershire. Lehmann had been playing for the club in the Royal London Cup as Glenn Maxwell’s replacement. He made just 8 on Monday as the bowlers dominated in Manchester, with England’s spearhead James Anderson taking 5 for 25.Marnus Labuschagne found some form after a lean spell at the start of the Royal London Cup. He made 54 in Glamorgan’s last one-day game before peeling off a second century for the season in Division Two of the County Championship. Labuschagne and Nicholas Selman both scored centuries and shared a 231-run stand to give Glamorgan a chance to win the game, after being made to follow-on. However, it ultimately ended in a draw. He fell for 14 in the next game against Derbyshire after taking 1 for 46 with the ball.Cameron Bancroft led from the front in Durham’s loss to Worcestershire. Batting at No.3, he made a patient 70 in the first innings after Durham slumped to 3 for 14, but only managed 25 in the second innings. Durham were again 4 for 17 after being sent in by Gloucestershire on Monday, with Bancroft falling for a duck.Matt Renshaw’s early season stint with Kent came to end last week with scores of 16 and 13 in a loss to Yorkshire. Outside of a century in the Royal London Cup against Sussex, Renshaw was nowhere near as prolific as he was last season with Somerset, although early season weather did not aid his cause.Peter Siddle was back to his miserly best in Essex’s win over Nottinghamshire. Coming in fresh after two weeks without playing, Siddle sent down 32.3 overs for the match, taking 3 for 65.James Pattinson bowls•Getty Images

Injury listJames Pattinson missed Nottinghamshire’s last three fixtures due to a niggling side strain. He missed the semi-final loss to Somerset in the Royal London One-Day Cup and then missed the next championship fixture against Essex. It was expected he would return for the match against Hampshire which began on Monday but he didn’t take the field. Pattinson is part of both Australia A squads, but those who are currently in the UK do not need to join the squad until June 15, meaning he could be available for Nottinghamshire’s next two fixtures if he is fit. Daniel Worrall’s county season with Gloucestershire is already over after he was diagnosed with stress fractures in his lower back.Performance of the weekLabuschagne’s second century of the English summer will certainly have pleased Justin Langer and the selectors. He had to play in Glamorgan’s second XI during the Royal London Cup to find some touch but he has bounced back in great style. The manner of the century, coming under pressure after his team followed on, would also please the selectors. He is not in the Australia A four-day squad but the selectors were firm in stating that those playing county cricket would still be heavily considered for the Ashes.

Foakes’ half-century rallies Surrey from 38 for 3 but they still trail by 156 runs

ECB Reporters Network04-Jun-2019A classy 57 by Ben Foakes stood out in testing batting conditions on a weather-affected second day at Guildford, in which Surrey reached 188 for 5 in reply to Somerset’s 344.Only 36.2 overs were bowled before bad light and rain cut short proceedings from shortly after 2pm until 5.30pm, when a further 18.4 overs were possible, but Foakes’ half-century rallied Surrey from the depths of 38 for 3 in a fourth-wicket partnership worth 81 in 22 overs with Scott Borthwick.Borthwick’s two and a half hours of resistance eventually ended, after a 118-ball 36, in that tricky final session when he nicked a push-drive at a ball from Craig Overton. All-rounder Ryan Patel, however, contributed a punchy 40 not out from 69 balls, as sunshine warmed the early evening’s play, while Will Jacks hung on to remain unbeaten on 13.Foakes hit ten fours in a fine 70-ball effort, before edging the pacy Jamie Overton to keeper Steven Davies two overs before the players left the field 5.2 overs into the afternoon session. Overton had figures of 2 for 20 from 6.2 overs when the players left the field but Patel took three fours in an over off the fast bowler when play resumed – two thumping square cuts and a rasping extra cover drive – to spoil his figures somewhat.The Overton twins and Jack Brooks had all earlier struck with the new ball in the day’s opening hour, after Surrey had resumed their first innings on 0 for 0. Overcast conditions encouraged a five-pronged Somerset seam attack but Mark Stoneman started brightly, hitting three offside fours and a pick-up six off Craig Overton.After reaching 21 from 22 balls, though, left-hander Stoneman played no stroke at a ball from Brooks which swung in wickedly late to pluck out his off stump.Burns, who laboured for 39 balls to make just 2, then drove loosely at Craig Overton to give Marcus Trescothick a sharp catch at second slip and Dean Elgar soon joined his captain in the pavilion when he was out for 1 to Jamie Overton’s first ball of the match.Having replaced his brother in the attack, Overton swung a good length ball back into Elgar’s pads and won the leg-before appeal. It was also his first ball in championship cricket this season for Somerset, although he took six wickets in the second division for Northamptonshire late last month during a short loan spell.Foakes counter-attacked with some high-quality strokes, including one powerful pull for four off Jamie Overton and, later, there was another meaty pull to the boundary when Jack Leach’s left-arm spin was introduced just before lunch.Borthwick, by contrast, was more circumspect in the testing conditions but he did drive Tim Groenewald through extra cover for four with a flourish in the morning session.On 23 when bad light and then rain intervened, he hit one more lovely cover driven four off Brooks before being dismissed, leaving Patel and Jacks to make sure Surrey did not lose another wicket before stumps. Craig Overton, who finished the day with figures of 15-8-26-2, was the pick of Somerset’s bowlers.

Having won the two-match four-day series 1-0, Afghantsain A now lead the five-match one-day series 2-0 after their four-wicket win on Sunday

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jul-2019The method of Afghanistan A’s dominance of their hosts Bangladesh has surprised selector Habibul Bashar, who said that their brand of cricket has been more patient. Currently, Afghanistan lead the five-match one-day series 2-0 after their four-wicket win in Chattogram on Sunday, having already won the two-match four-day series 1-0.Bashar said that he was impressed by the way they played mostly cricketing shots during their tricky 279-run chase, which was anchored by Ibrahim Zadran’s 127 off 149 before Sharafuddin Ashraf and Fazal Niazai blasted 37 runs in three overs to complete the victory. Bashar also said that Afghanistan played by the book during the four-day matches, the first of which they won by seven wickets.”This Afghanistan side is playing a different brand of cricket, which has surprised me,” Bashar told , a Dhaka-based Bengali daily. “Their main team usually slogs the ball. They start going for big shots, but this team doesn’t play like that. They are playing in the traditional way, which is very different for them. Even when they went for big shots in this game, they didn’t just slog. They played good shots. They took 86 off the last eight overs against experienced bowlers like Shafiul [Islam] and [Abu Jayed] Rahi. This is a group of really committed cricketers.”On the flip side, however, Bashar said that he was worried about the home side’s performance in the series so far. There are thirteen Bangladesh capped players among the 14 who have played in the two one-dayers, including World Cup squad members Mohammad Mithun, Sabbir Rahman, Rubel Hossain and Abu Jayed. From this squad, Anamul Haque and later Farhad Reza have been added to the senior side that is touring Sri Lanka currently.Most of these players, according to Bashar, were picked on the back of excellent domestic showings from the last season, but it hasn’t reflected in what is considered a step below international cricket.”I am also wondering where the problem is,” Bashar said. “This team is made up of proven performers at the domestic level. They have scored runs and taken plenty of wickets, but I can’t figure out why they have been unable to perform against Afghanistan A.”It is a matter of prestige, but also worrying, isn’t it? The batsmen who played in the four-day matches all have 150-plus innings under their belt. They are now playing at almost the highest level, just below the senior team. They are in the A team because they have done well in domestic cricket. If they can’t do well at this level, how will they do well at the next step.”Bangladesh A still have a chance to make a comeback in the three remaining one-day matches, to be held on July 24, 27 and 29.

On what could well be his final first-class appearance, Pakistan seamer takes four wickets to evoke memories of his up-and-down red-ball career

Daniel Norcross at Canterbury19-Aug-2019KC & The Sunshine Band’s “Please Don’t Go” may not be everyone’s obvious earworm on an infuriatingly showery day that permitted only 43.2 overs to be bowled at Canterbury, but today was a little different. In all likelihood today was the penultimate chance anyone will get to watch one of the finest left-arm red ball pacemen of this era run through his box of bamboozling tricks.Mohammad Amir has called time on his Test career and is focusing on white-ball cricket from now on. It’s hard to blame him. Pakistan Test cricketers get paid poorly by comparison with their English, Indian and Australian counterparts, and in addition, Test match commitments can make them a less attractive prospect for Big Bash teams, CPL franchises and from next year, The Hundred sides. They are missing out on literally hundreds of thousands of pounds every year.It’s a lot of hard work, for little reward. And if you’re Pakistani, you’re toiling away for half your Test match career on seam-unfriendly pitches in the UAE. You’re not even going through all this to play in front of a home crowd.Amir’s critics will say that he owes Pakistan cricket a debt of gratitude after playing a significant role in its darkest hour; the spot-fixing scandal of 2010. Unlike Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif, he has been given a second chance and has thrown it back in the face of people who went out on a limb to rehabilitate him. You can see their point, but you can surely also see his.And if you can see both sides, you will also be feeling a great sadness. Amir has picked up 258 first-class wickets at an average of 22.7. At his best, he slinks to the crease with a graceful and rhythmic action before pinning bewildered batsmen with his deceptive late swing. Here against Kent he plucked four poles from the ground to remove Zak Crawley, Daniel Bell-Drummond, Heino Kuhn (all yesterday) and Ollie Rayner (this morning). He’s not Wasim Akram, but it often feels as if he might have come close to emulating the great man had he not erred so catastrophically as a callow 18-year-old.On his return after a five-year ban there were a lot of people who didn’t want him back, and there are many who will not be sorry to see him go. In truth he has only intermittently touched the heights that he reached as a teenager. His place in Pakistan’s World Cup squad this summer was far from secure, but his performances in that tournament spoke of a man back to near his best.This is the only red-ball match Amir will play for Essex yet his contribution has consolidated Essex’s grip at the top of the table. Kent have played tough, nuggety cricket this season and can rightly be proud of their secure mid-table position. Resistance today came in the form of a 65-run 9th wicket partnership between Harry Podmore, who finished on 54 not out, and Matt Milnes. They may yet get out of this match with a draw, but a first innings total of 226 doesn’t feel enough at this stage against an Essex side with in-form batsmen and the small matter of Simon Harmer eying up a fourth day pitch with relish.They have also been hit by the news that Adam Milne is out for the season. With Mohammad Nabi having rejoined the Afghan squad, Kent are now without an overseas player for the remainder of their T20 and Championship campaigns.Sam Cook’s five-wicket haul may not have been as spectacular as Amir’s stump-busting bursts, but he too continues to impress as Essex have brought together a collection of very fine players who don’t quite attract the attentions of the England selectors.There was just enough time to watch Darren Stevens beat Alastair Cook’s bat four times in an over as Essex scratched their way to 32 for 1. Stevens is 43. He is sixteen years Amir’s senior, a very different joy to watch and he wants to play at least one more year with a red ball in his hand.Sadly for us, and worryingly for the wider cricketing world, Mohammad Amir does not.

Lewis, Pooran flickered briefly for West Indies, but a flurry of wickets in the middle overs derailed their chase

The Report by Hemant Brar11-Aug-20196:19

Ganga: WI batsmen failed to seize the crucial moments

Virat Kohli spoilt Chris Gayle’s 300th ODI celebrations with his 42nd century in the format, helping India win by 59 runs via the DLS method. With this victory, India have taken an unassailable 1-0 lead in the three-match series as the first game was washed out.Kohli, assisted by Shreyas Iyer’s half-century, helped India to 279 for 7. Rain had reduced West Indies’ target to 270 in 46 overs and, at one stage, they needed 91 off 71 balls before slipping from 179 for 4 to 182 for 8. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the wrecker-in-chief, picking up three of those four wickets – and finishing with figures of 4 for 31 – to effectively seal the game.After failing to convert five 50-plus scores into a hundred at the World Cup, Kohli ended his relative drought with 120 off 125 balls. During his chanceless knock, he surpassed Sourav Ganguly’s tally of 11,363 ODI runs. Among Indians, only Sachin Tendulkar (18,426) now has more ODI runs than Kohli’s 11,406.ALSO READ: Krishnaswamy – Iyer sticks to the nuts and bolts of middle-order ODI battingIyer too made full use of his first innings on the tour with 71 off 68. He played the perfect foil to Kohli, finding singles and boundaries with regular frequency as the duo added 125 in 115 balls for the fourth wicket.West Indies conceded only 67 from the last ten overs but, as it turned out, India had got enough by then.Kohli had opted to bat first on a humid day after winning his fifth successive toss on this tour but India didn’t have a great start. Shikhar Dhawan fell in the first over of the innings to a Sheldon Cottrell delivery that seemed to be swinging away before coming in off the seam to trap the batsman lbw. Rohit Sharma didn’t get off the mark until his 11th delivery but Kohli ensured the scoreboard was always ticking. The second ball Kohli faced, he drove Kemar Roach for four through extra cover. A similar delivery in Roach’s next over was flicked wristily to the deep-midwicket boundary, and when the West Indies pacers bowled straight, Kohli milked them for runs on the leg side.Kohli reached his fifty with a four to third man but Rohit never got going at the other end. In an attempt to break the shackles, he ended up slicing Roston Chase towards cover where Nicholas Pooran completed the catch over his shoulder, running backwards.Continuing at No. 4, Rishabh Pant hit a couple of fours – a whip through midwicket and a cut behind square – but was bowled for 20 off 35 when he failed to connect a pull off Carlos Brathwaite.Virat Kohli pulls one away•Randy Brooks/AFP

With those two wickets, West Indies – and especially Chase – applied brakes on the scoring rate. Chase bowled unchanged for his ten overs and finished with 1 for 37.Kohli though kept collecting his runs: a nudge here for one, a push there for two and putting away anything loose for four. A majestic six off Jason Holder over long-off took him to 89. Four overs later, Kohli brought up his hundred, off 112 balls. However, a tired shot – it was very humid, and draining – in the 42nd over brought an end to his knock; he mistimed a Brathwaite slower ball to Roach at long-off.A light drizzle halted play in the 43rd over for about 25 minutes. Iyer and Kedar Jadhav returned to take the side to 250 in the 45th over but India could never really accelerate from there.Still, the hosts needed to pull off the highest successful chase at this venue in order to register a win.Gayle became the leading ODI run-scorer from the West Indies, going past Brian Lara’s tally of 10,405 runs (those scored for ICC combined teams included) with a four off Khaleel Ahmed but was lbw soon after to Bhuvneshwar. Shai Hope didn’t last long either as he chopped Khaleel onto his stumps.Rain once again made an appearance in the 13th over of the chase and this time forced a reduction of four overs with ten runs taken off the target.Lewis who had struck four fours and a pulled six off Bhuvneshwar before the break resumed with another boundary, a swept four off Kuldeep Yadav. But Shimron Hetmyer ended up skying a quicker one from the wristspinner to Kohli at extra cover.Struggling with a calf injury, Lewis brought up his maiden ODI fifty in the Caribbean but became Kuldeep’s second victim after failing to middle a cut shot. Kohli at extra cover leapt in the air and plucked a one-handed catch.Pooran was severe on both Kuldeep and Jadhav, while Chase kept rotating the strike. The latter also had a slice of luck in the 33rd over when Mohammed Shami failed to latch on to a return catch with the batsman on 10.But Bhuvneshwar, returning for his second spell, removed both batsmen in the same over to peg West Indies back. Pooran ended up top-edging a knuckle ball to Kohli in front of square, while a brilliant one-handed return catch sent Chase back.Brathwaite fell to Ravindra Jadeja in the next over and Roach chopped one on to his stumps to give Bhuvneshwar his fourth wicket. There were some fireworks from Cottrell towards the end but West Indies were all but out of the game by then.

Logie takes over the role from former Barbados batsman Henderson Springer

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Oct-2019Gus Logie, the former West Indies batsman, has been named the head coach of West Indies Women on an interim basis as Cricket West Indies begins their recruitment process for a full-time head coach.Logie takes over the role from former Barbados batsman Henderson Springer, who will continue to assist CWI’s coaching education programs.Logie, who has been the assistant coach of the women’s team since 2017, will guide the side’s preparations for India Women’s tour of the West Indies next month. India are scheduled to play three ODIs and five T20Is from November 1 to November 20, with matches to be played in Antigua, St Lucia and Guyana.”Gus has a long history with West Indies cricket, both as a player and as a coach,” Jimmy Adams, the CWI director of cricket said via a press release. “He has been a part of the women’s team for the last two years and knows the players’ techniques and skillsets. I have no doubt he will continue his hard work in preparing the team for India Women and then the T20 World Cup next year.”We are extremely grateful to Hendy for his contribution to the women’s program over the last two years and we will continue to exploit his prior experience within coaching education.”Apart from that, Evril Betty Lewis was named the new team manager of women and girls’ cricket after interim manager Anne Browne-John was appointed the lead selector for the outfits.

After the deal struck with Andrew McDonald as assistant coach, CA are likely to adapt their player contracts

Daniel Brettig31-Oct-20191:14

‘ACA must do better to help players like Cummins’ – Siddle

Australian cricket’s leadership is open to returning to the option of multi-year contracts for their top players in the wake of the agreement of a groundbreaking coaching deal with Andrew McDonald that will allow him the flexibility to maintain pre-arranged commitments in the IPL and the Hundred.Earl Eddings, the Cricket Australia chairman, followed his first AGM in charge by agreeing that the rapidly changing cricket world required both better relationships and greater flexibility from administrators, as underlined by the decision to agree to McDonald’s preferred terms and so ensure his skills would not be lost to the head coach Justin Langer.He told ESPNcricinfo that the new dual high performance chiefs Ben Oliver (manager of national teams) and Drew Ginn (manager of high performance) can be expected to look at the option of multi-year deals for top ranked players, a part of the CA contracting system in the first decade of the 21st century but less common following the performance-based recommendations of the Argus review in 2011, and presently a recommendation to the board before the next contract cycle.”The game has changed so quickly, in terms of the various other options players and coaches both now have, which I think is great for the game,” Eddings told ESPNcricinfo. “It gives them an opportunity to show their wares to the rest of the world and Cricket Australia’s got to adapt to that as well.”Have we discussed multiple year contracts? I’m sure our high performance people will be looking at that, and something for them to come back to the board with their recommendations. For Andrew I think it’s a great opportunity, as a world class coach, I know he’s highly sought after around the world. The fact we’ve got him as our assistant coach speaks volumes for Cricket Victoria for producing a great coach but also to Andrew for becoming one of the best young coaches in the world.”Pat Cummins, this year’s No. 1 ranked CA contracted player, has been a vocal advocate of multi-year deals for the past two years, noting the physical toll on the bodies of fast bowlers in particular that often preclude them from stretching their physiques in search of greater financial returns in the IPL and elsewhere.”No it didn’t happen this year. They just said they weren’t offering anyone longer term this year,” Cummins told this week. “I hope [it changes in the future]. You can only ask the question and see what comes of it. Like anyone in your job, you want more than 12 months security always.”Pat Cummins claims another scalp•Getty Images

The issue is a little more complicated than the players wanting more security and the board wishing only to hand out contractual rewards on a strict year-on-year performance basis. The possibility of players remaining under contract to CA at the end of an MoU period would have been an awkward scenario for the Australian Cricketers Association during the 2017-18 pay dispute, when all players falling out of contract at once played into the union’s hands.Since the Argus review, the offer of multi-year deals to players has become perceived as being used only as a defensive move by CA, as was the case when the former team performance manager Pat Howard offered three-year deals to Steven Smith, David Warner, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Cummins as the pay dispute was heating up. A different landscape prevailed in the early 2000s, when the likes of Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist enjoyed greater certainty in return for compelling and consistent performances as the world’s top team.Peter Siddle, the most experienced Australian pace bowler currently in national contention, noted that he was given a two-year deal at the outset of his international career in 2008, saying that players would be happy in many cases to enjoy extra financial security in exchange for foregoing additional domestic T20 events overseas.”We used to have them. I remember my first contract I signed a long time ago, about 11 years ago now, I signed a multi-year deal then,” Siddle said. “It was only two years but it did give you at least that second-year sort of guarantee. I think with certain players you could probably look at it. It’s definitely something the ACA and Cricket Australia can look to maybe improve on over the coming years because there are players like, especially someone like Patty [James Pattinson], who is in all formats, not just the one format player, you might want to lock him down.”It gives them the opportunity to keep him out of maybe tours outside of the country, whether it’s IPL or other T20 leagues around the world, where they can then control where he goes a bit more. But in saying that the player then wants to be reimbursed a little bit for what he may be missing out on. It is definitely that’s something worth discussing. Maybe it’s not for everyone. But that’s what it comes down to when discussing contracts and deals.”

A number of the touring players – Archer, Broad and Leach among them – are unwell

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Dec-2019The Somerset duo of offspinner Dom Bess and medium-pacer Craig Overton have been called up to England’s Test squad ahead of the first Test against South Africa – starting on Boxing Day in Centurion – after a bug swept through the touring party, leaving a number of players unwell. The two are expected to reach Johannesburg on Saturday morning.As reported earlier, England’s tour match against South Africa A, which starts on Friday, was downgraded from first-class status because of the ongoing effects of illness in the line-up.Among those to have fallen ill were Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad and Jack Leach, none of whom travelled to the game. The ECB said in a statement that the match will be a “three-day friendly match with only 11 players batting or fielding at any point in time”.The call-ups highlight England’s level of concern ahead of the first Test after such a disrupted build-up. Leach travelled to New Zealand last month as the Test team’s first-choice spinner, but was left out in Hamilton and then hospitalised by a bout of gastroenteritis. Although legspinner Matt Parkinson is with the squad in South Africa, he has yet to play a Test and only appeared in four Championship games for Lancashire in 2019.Bess made his Test debut at Lord’s last year when Leach, his Somerset team-mate, suffered a broken finger. Although he has had to play the understudy role at Taunton, he provides more of an all-round option, having impressed with the bat during his two Tests against Pakistan.The call for Bess also confirms England’s cautious approach to plans for a Moeen Ali comeback. After being dropped during the summer, Moeen has taken an indefinite break from Test cricket and Ashley Giles, England director of men’s cricket, said earlier this week that the allrounder “needs to make sure he’s ready” before he is selected again.Overton, meanwhile, featured as recently as the fourth Ashes Test at Old Trafford in September. He will provide England with another seam-bowling option, amid concerns over the fitness of Broad and Archer and the fact James Anderson is only just back from a calf injury that ruled him out of the majority of the Ashes.

Bailey has retorted to questions about bias by saying “I’m not going to pick myself”

Daniel Brettig25-Nov-2019Former Australia ODI captain and current Tasmania batsman George Bailey is set to become the third member of the national selection panel alongside chairman Trevor Hohns and head coach Justin Langer, adding the contemporary voice that Cricket Australia has been searching for in their deliberations for the national team.Bailey, who is widely respected in Australian cricket circles, will be a departure from tradition by taking on a selection role while still a player, though numerous cricketers have been selectors either as captain or in the summers immediately after retirement, including Hohns, Peter Taylor and Greg Chappell. It was Chappell’s retirement from his role as selector following the Ashes series this year that opened up the place taken by Bailey.CA had previously flirted with the concept of having a current player as a selector when Hohns floated Darren Lehmann as a candidate prior to his retirement, before the concept was thwarted at board level. Usman Khawaja, the Queensland captain, spoke favourably of the prospect of choosing a current player as a selector when asked about it on Monday.”I think there is always an option there. I think there is no one more involved and more relevant in the game than people who are actually playing the game,” Khawaja said. “I think players are one of the biggest stakeholders, sometimes the most under-utilised and undervalued stakeholders in the game. I think it’s always important to have someone in the skin of the game.”Communication between selectors and players has improved over the years, but it is believed that the players have suggested it can get better still, something that Bailey will be keenly aware of. Equally he will bring along the perspective of a cricketer who has played more or less his entire career in the Twenty20 era, leading Australia to the global tournament in Sri Lanka in 2012 when they reached the semi-finals.Other candidates to make the final three included the former Victoria and South Australia batsman Michael Klinger and also Greg Shipperd, presently the coach of the Sydney Sixers. Langer had also spoken positively of wanting to find a role in Australian cricket for Trevor Bayliss after the conclusion of his time as England coach this year.”Really pleased with the people who put their hat in the ring for that role,” CA’s head of national teams Ben Oliver said on Monday. “There will be some people who are really disappointed no doubt [at missing out on the role] but they should all take great encouragement and they all have a lot to offer. Really looking forward to getting to the end of that process. Not quite there yet, but we’re not far away.”The panel, and all three, will be responsible for all Australian men’s teams. What we’ve tried to achieve in this recruitment process is adding in some complementary skills to support Trevor and Justin, and one of those is a consideration around short-format cricket.”Oliver explained that the national pathways manager Graham Manou, who had previously worked closely with Chappell in his role as national talent manager, would have a major linking role to keep the selectors abreast of developments in junior and pathway competitions, though like the national captains Tim Paine and Aaron Finch he will not be formally added to the panel.”It’s important for our selection panel to be across the talent that’s emerging through domestic cricket,” Oliver said. “Graham Manou as the national talent and pathway manager has a key role to play in connecting the domestic system but certainly we’re looking for this particular role that we’re recruiting for now, to have a close connection to Graham and to our domestic teams and our domestic coaches.”Sticking with three and Graham’s an important conduit between the panel and domestic cricket. He’s been helping throughout this period as well. At the moment sticking with three [selectors].”Bailey has retorted to questions about bias by saying “I’m not going to pick myself”, while Paine revealed during the Gabba Test against Pakistan that he was firmly in favour of the appointment. “In last week’s Shield game he was batting at five, I was batting at seven, so we were both sitting in the change rooms and set up a mock interview,” Paine told ABC radio. “He’s ready to go, so hopefully he gets the nod, I think he’d be ideal.”

Tamim Iqbal has looked good, but the other batsmen haven’t contributed, says the Bangladesh batting coach

Mohammad Isam26-Jan-2020Bangladesh’s progress in specific areas in the batting haven’t been in evidence in the ongoing T20I series in Lahore, according to batting coach Neil McKenzie. The former South Africa batsman, who opted against touring Pakistan and has been working with the Test specialists in Dhaka instead, said the players must trust the “no fear” mantra that coach Russell Domingo has been trying to drill into them.Bangladesh have already conceded the three-T20I series after losing the first two games. They batted first on both occasions and only managed 141 and 136. They hardly dominated any phase of the games, and failed to build any impetus in the middle overs, which seemed to have improved after McKenzie became the batting coach.”There’s lot of inexperience in the squad at the moment. We knew that was going to be the case before we got there, but still it is disappointing,” McKenzie said. “I think we missed out on a good start the other day (in the first T20I). What’s been disappointing for me has been the intent. We have been working so hard in the last couple of years on rotation of strike, putting the bowler under pressure, where you are standing, making him bowl to where you want him to bowl, but I haven’t seen too much of those in the last T20s.”The intent, looking to be a little bit more hungry, really playing with that ‘no fear’ that Russell and everybody tries to instill in the players. It is human nature. You have a few young guys and some guys who are getting back. There’s a lot of pressure on the guys to perform and stay in the side, which is understandable, but hopefully they all understand that they are getting the backing from all the selectors and coach. They just have to go out there and play.”McKenzie, who has been praised for bringing about a fresh approach to Bangladesh’s batting in limited-overs cricket, said that with so many top-order batsmen in the squad, Bangladesh don’t have the required experience and expertise in the middle order. Shakib Al Hasan is out of the picture, and the absence of Mushfiqur Rahim – who also opted against touring – is certainly a big factor, but with Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar and Afif Hossain all having made runs in the top-order, it might have been difficult for them to adjust to a new batting position.”I think you have to look at the combination of who is playing,” he said. “Russell as a new coach is trying to look at some different combinations. I think at the moment we have too many batsman that bats at one, two and three. If you look around the squad, they are quality players but they are all top-order batters.”It is a different skill to bat at No 4, 5 and 6. You are on nought, and all of a sudden you are facing a quality spinner. It is a different mindset. You have to know your game, try to rotate the strike and then go with your boundary options.”Neil McKenzie has a chat with Liton Das•BCB

McKenzie explained that the players should think selfishly on behalf of the team, so that they finish off games after getting set. “I think there’s an improvement [but] the turnover of players – by which I mean there’s been a lot of players in my tenure here – is still too high for my liking. It just looks like no one is jumping out of the box, we need someone like [Mohammad] Naim. He got a great eighty [81] in India. He struggled the other day but he got a 40-odd, but we need more consistent innings like that from the Bangladesh batsmen.”There’s no doubt that Bangladesh is full of very talented cricketers, but we need a little bit more consistency. I want someone to be selfish in terms of winning games for the side. Not selfish for their own right. Selfish for not giving it away. If I have an 80, why can’t I follow it up with a hundred, 140 or 200?”A little bit more hunger for that consistency. A lot of the time, the guys are happy to play the next game. If you get a 40 or 60. It is the wrong mentality. I want the guys to try to be the best in the world, or be the best Bangladesh batsman. I think that’s what we are trying to instill. We are making progress. But it has been a little bit frustrating.”McKenzie also asked for patience about Tamim Iqbal, who has scored 39 and 65 in the two games, but wasn’t able to lift the scoring rate.”I think you have to cut him a little bit of slack,” McKenzie said. “He has been one of Bangladesh’s best performers through the years. He is coming back from an injury and a few other things, so he is settling in. I think the positive thing for him is his runs under the belt. We all know what he can do, what he is capable of. You saw how he took it in the BPL final last year. I think we all want him to play more innings like that. He is probably one of Bangladesh’s most consistent players.”We know how he can play but it’s also up to him to trust the guys around him. But the guys around him also have to be performing. When you have faith in the team and batting order, you can play a few more shots. I am glad to see him back. It seems he is in a good frame of mind. Hopefully it is the confidence he needs to kick-start and get him going, and turn those sixties into an eighty off 55 balls.”He is an experienced player. He knows what he should be doing and how important he is for Bangladesh. It is a process, but we are looking for a little bit more fearless batting,” he said.