This was a big season for Ricky Ponting’s men

Brydon Coverdale at Bellerive Oval18-Jan-2010Australia’s 2009-10 won’t go down in history as one of the great summers. It didn’t have the hype of an Ashes series, nor the tension of a contest against India, nor the raw combat of a series against South Africa. But don’t be fooled, this was a big season for Ricky Ponting’s men. It was an important two months during which Ponting’s hard work to mould a new-look outfit could have unravelled if the side had sunk into a post-Ashes-loss depression.Instead, his team won five of six Tests, enjoyed a whitewash against Pakistan and most importantly almost all the players made significant personal progress. In a bridging summer in the 18 months between Ashes battles, it was the best Ponting could have hoped for.His eyes are firmly fixed on England’s trip to Australia later this year, so much so that he stayed up on Sunday night to watch their defeat in Johannesburg. Following Australia’s victory against Pakistan in Hobart, he said there were no boxes yet to be ticked ahead of the Ashes in November.”I don’t think there are, to tell you the truth,” Ponting said. “I’m really comfortable with the way a lot of the guys have come on through the summer. If you look at Shane Watson in the opening role, it was probably something that we weren’t entirely sure about, coming in to the summer, but I think he’s put his own stamp on that role particularly well, as he has with his bowling as well.”Nathan Hauritz has certainly stepped up in this series alone to take 18 wickets in this series on two wickets, particularly in Melbourne and Hobart, that didn’t really offer much for him at all. That sort of return for a finger-spinner is a great effort. Those two guys in particular have really stood up and started to learn a lot more about themselves and about the game.”Watson was comfortably Australia’s best and most consistent batsman for the season, with 609 runs at 60.90. The ease with which he adjusted to the Test opening role was a surprise to everyone but the Australian selectors, and 13 wickets at 25.84 with a handy knack for reverse-swing was an added bonus.Hauritz and Mitchell Johnson shared the top bowling honours with 29 victims each but just as impressive was Doug Bollinger, who entered the summer with only one Test to his name and collected 25 at 20.80, bringing extra intensity to Australia’s new-ball efforts. Peter Siddle performed a workhorse role and finally gained some reward with five wickets at Bellerive Oval, which confirmed the attack is on track with Ben Hilfenhaus still to return.In the batting line-up, Ponting atoned for a quiet couple of months with nearly 300 runs for the Hobart Test, Simon Katich provided reliable starts, Michael Clarke built his highest Test score and Michael Hussey saved his career with a summer average of 55.77. Brad Haddin was very good behind the stumps and the only man to struggle was Marcus North, although Ponting defended his No. 6 and hoped he would bounce back on the tour of New Zealand in March.”He’s not a weak link at all,” Ponting said. “It was only a couple of Tests ago that we were saying he was probably our best and most in-form player. Coming in to this week I was in the same boat [out of form] and things change pretty quickly. I don’t see a weak link in our side at the moment. Hopefully everything turns out the way we want it for Marcus and he can go to New Zealand and have a good series there and then there won’t be any speculation about anyone in our line-up.”What has impressed Ponting most about the summer has been the clinical nature of his team’s victories. It began with a three-day mauling of West Indies at the Gabba and finished with a 231-run demolition of Pakistan. In all six Tests, even the draw against West Indies in Adelaide, Australia’s attack took 20 wickets, which was a major achievement given the struggles they had endured trying to knock sides over during the past year.”It’s been a great series for us, it’s been a great summer for us to tell you the truth,” Ponting said. “There was a fair bit of conjecture coming into the summer after the end of the Ashes about where we were going with our Test cricket and I spelled things out pretty clearly to the team about where I thought we were going and I think we have improved a lot through the summer.”You just can’t afford to have half an hour or an hour’s play where the game’s not going anywhere. You can’t afford to let that happen. Someone has continually got to put their hand up and make sure the game is going forward and that’s the way I will keep challenging the team. We certainly can’t be happy with just sitting back and accepting what we’ve done through the summer.”Australia have four Tests, two in New Zealand and two in England against Pakistan, before they set out to regain the urn at home. After their success over the past two months, those four games will be about fine-tuning rather than remodelling.

Cricinfo previews the second ODI between India and South Africa in Jaipur

The Preview by Kanishkaa Balachandran23-Feb-2010

Match facts

February 24, 2010
Start time 14.30 (09.00GMT)The bowlers will have to be on their mark in what’s expected to be a batting belter•AFP

The Big Picture

The series opener in Jaipur shouldn’t have got so close. Ashish Nehra should have been bowled off the penultimate ball of the innings. India’s total, as a result of that freakish incident – when the ball deflected off the stumps – should have been four runs less. India’s bowlers shouldn’t have allowed the South African tail to put their specialist batsmen to shame. A more conclusive camera angle/replay would have determined whether Sachin Tendulkar legitimately saved the boundary in the final over. All these significant incidents proved the difference between an Indian win and any other result.The South Africans would no doubt have debated these ifs and buts after that game. Dale Steyn and Wayne Parnell scripted a near-Houdini act but it couldn’t hide what was otherwise an unflattering batting performance, Jacques Kallis excepted. It was puzzling why they omitted their in-form player Hashim Amla – not the most well-known limited-overs player around but one who adds glue to the top order. South Africa missed him and could sacrifice one of the openers for him. They have to get their combination right because another defeat tomorrow will render the series lost and the final ODI a dead rubber.The other area of concern is the number of extras. All bowlers, except Johan Botha, conceded wides and there were 12 in all, which made a difference in the final outcome. It doesn’t necessarily warrant wholesale changes to the bowling attack. All they need to focus on is discipline and their ability to vary their pace a lot more to induce mistakes. It’s imperative bowlers from both sides step up because the curator at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium in Gwalior has promised another track full of runs.The Indian bowlers have problems too. Their struggles in the death overs are well documented and have become more pronounced in Zaheer Khan’s absence. In Jaipur, Dhoni was unhappy with the way they gave away runs with the new ball, let alone in the tense final stages. Both Nehra and Sreesanth are mercurial in nature – they either have a great day or a forgettable day. Dhoni had to rely on part-timers, and the gamble of bowling Suresh Raina didn’t pay off. Whether India bring in a specialist spinner on not is something that may be discussed behind closed doors.

Form guide (last five completed games, most recent first)

India WLWWW
South Africa LLWLW

Watch out for…

Suresh Raina: On a batting belter in Jaipur, Raina was the only Indian batsman to pass fifty in a total approaching 300. He occupied the crease for nearly 20 overs and collected boundaries with upper cuts and pull shots. His slog sweep is his best shot in the book and we’ve seen that in the IPL. His bowling was a disappointment, but that’s not why he’s in the team.Albie Morkel: He’s not in peak form with bat or ball and must be feeling the pressure. He was the batting Powerplay specialist in Australia last year but has struggled for fluency since then. With the ball, he has struggled in the last seven games, picking up five wickets at an expensive 45.80. Should South Africa opt for a spin-bowling allrounder in Roelof van der Merwe, the axe could fall on Morkel because there are already three specialist seamers in the line-up.

Team news

Virender Sehwag was off the field in Jaipur with a sore lower back but the word from the Indian camp is that they’ll take a final call tomorrow. He batted in the nets without any apparent discomfort. Sreesanth was all over the place, leaking 8.22 an over, despite taking the all-important wicket of Kallis. If they choose to drop him, Sudeep Tyagi could get his chance.India (probable) 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 5 Suresh Raina, 6 Dinesh Karthik, 7 Yusuf Pathan, 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 Praveen Kumar, 10 Ashish Nehra, 11 Sreesanth/Sudeep TyagiThe only possible change for South Africa is the inclusion of Amla in place of someone from the top order.South Africa: (probable) 1 Herschelle Gibbs, 2 Loots Bosman/Hashim Amla, 3 Jacques Kallis (capt), 4 AB de Villiers, 5 Alviro Petersen, 6 Mark Boucher (wk), 7 Albie Morkel, 8 Wayne Parnell, 9 Dale Steyn, 10 Johan Botha, 11 Charl Langeveldt.

Pitch and conditions

The pitch was relaid two years back, and the curator of the Gwalior Division Cricket Association, Ajay Sahasrabuddhe, has guaranteed a 300-plus surface. He says the toss will not be a factor, and the spinners may get some assistance as the match progresses. There is a tinge of grass to bind the surface together, but it isn’t expected to give any advantage to the bowlers. To counter the dew, the groundstaff will use a spray called APSA 80 on the outfield. The same spray was used during the Champions Trophy in India in 2006. It rained on Monday night, but the forecast for tomorrow is sunshine, with a maximum of 28 degrees Celsius.

Stats and trivia

• Gwalior has been a happy hunting ground for India, winning seven out of nine ODIs there.
• India and South Africa last played an ODI at this venue back in 1991, the tourists’ first international series after re-admittance. In a match reduced to 45 overs, India posted 223 and won by 38 runs.
• Amla has opened in 19 of his 21 innings in ODIs and has done well at that position, averaging 48.41. He averages close to 50 in ODIs and made his debut nearly four years after playing his first Test.

Quotes

“Each of the 16 players in the squad is capable. Winning or losing, we will try to get the best combination. The quicker we get the combination the better. Rotation will go much longer than this tour.”
“You have to see the status of player before the World Cup. Injuries keep coming on. We will try to rotate players so that the best 11-12 players are there at that time.”

Cricinfo’s preview of the first ODI between New Zealand and Australia in Napier

The Preview by Peter English02-Mar-2010

Match Facts

Tim Southee wants to bowl in the Powerplays after his strong performance in Christchurch•AFP

Wednesday, March 3, Napier

Start time 1400 (0100 GMT)

The Big Picture

Life in a more sedate lane will begin in Napier after a frenetic finish to the two-match Twenty20 series, which left everyone in New Zealand breathless after Sunday’s Super Over victory. While the short affairs were leading to the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean late next month, the five ODIs for the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy act as a more leisurely warm-up for the two Tests.The hosts’ triumph in Christchurch ended Australia’s summer winning streak and gave Michael Clarke his first loss in charge of the Twenty20 team. Ricky Ponting and a few 50-over reinforcements have arrived and will try to replicate the form that led to convincing series wins against Pakistan and West Indies at home.New Zealand’s last engagement in this format was a 3-0 success over Bangladesh and they are on a five-game winning streak, but they face a step up in class. After one poor Twenty20 in Wellington they showed they can eyeball Australia and if Brendon McCullum inspires his team-mates to fire the contest could be even.

Form guide (most recent first)

New Zealand WWWWW

Australia WWNWW

Watch out for…

Tim Southee missed the first Twenty20 but starred in the second with a series of nerveless yorkers that even managed to restrict the rampaging Cameron White. Southee is only 21 but the performance showed he is a classy operator and he has asked to be used during the Powerplays in the ODIs. With Shane Bond the attack leader, New Zealand need someone like Southee to build pressure throughout his 10 overs.Ricky Ponting has had to get used to regular periods away from his side since retiring from the Twenty20 outfit last year. He got to Napier before the majority of the squad and will be keen to stamp his influence on the series. The last time he batted at McLean Park his 141 off 127 balls raced Australia to 347 for 5. Given Ponting’s recent troubles with the short ball, his battle with Bond, who has dismissed him six times in 10 ODIs, will be essential viewing.

Team news

New Zealand have two new faces from their Twenty20 unit, with Scott Styris available to beef up the batting order with Neil Broom. The hosts have their usual dilemma over whether to include two spinners or call on an extra seamer. Daryl Tuffey was left out on Sunday so he is not weighed down by the carnage caused by Australia as they equalled New Zealand’s 214 in 20 overs.New Zealand (possible) 1 Brendon McCullum (wk), 2 Peter Ingram, 3 Martin Guptill, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Scott Styris, 6 Jacob Oram, 7 James Franklin, 8 Daniel Vettori (capt), 9 Tim Southee, 10 Shane Bond, 11 Daryl Tuffey.Australia’s squad has undergone a makeover with the arrival of Ponting, Doug Bollinger, James Hopes, Clint McKay and Adam Voges. Expect Ponting and Bollinger to come back in, while Hopes is also likely to figure. There is no Shaun Marsh, who is not being replaced after a back injury ruled him out, so Brad Haddin should keep his spot at the top with Shane Watson.Australia (possible) 1 Shane Watson, 2 Brad Haddin (wk), 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Cameron White, 6 Michael Hussey, 7 James Hopes, 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Nathan Hauritz, 10 Ryan Harris, 11 Doug Bollinger.

Pitch and conditions

Napier is a ground that is usually full of runs and a good pitch is expected along with a crowd of between 8,000 and 10,000, which would make it about three-quarters full. A maximum of 27C is forecast and conditions should become sunny later in the day.

Stats and trivia

• Shane Bond averages 14.45 against Australia, having taken 35 wickets in 12 games, and it is his best mean against major nations. His career average is an impressive 20.87 over 77 ODIs.
• Michael Hussey’s average over 10 ODIs in New Zealand is 122.33, including a top score of 105
• In 118 ODIs against Australia, New Zealand have won 32 and lost 81
• The Chappell-Hadlee Trophy has been contested five times: Australia lead 2-1 with two drawn campaigns
• There have been three New Zealand-Australia games in Napier and Australia have been successful in two of them
  

  Quotes

  “They’re in their home country, they’re on their home turf, they’ll be really hard to beat. They have a very good one-day side, a very dangerous side.”
  
  Cameron White
  “I’m not too worried about wearing one – until everyone talks about it happening. It’s just an instinct thing. The way the game is going now, you’ve got to be able to access that area behind the keeper. As good as bowlers are now at hitting their yorkers, you’ve got to have some sort of method to counter them.”
  
  Brendon McCullum on the philosophy behind his “McScoop” over or past the wicketkeeper

The ICC president believes that the umpiring controversies that marred the third day of the Mirpur Test will help to encourage all cricket boards to embrace the use of the Umpire Decision Review System

Andrew Miller in Dhaka23-Mar-2010David Morgan, the ICC president, believes that the umpiring controversies that marred the third day of the Mirpur Test will help to encourage all cricket boards to embrace the use of the Umpire Decision Review System, but added that the business of footing the bill must still be shared by the host broadcaster for each series.”I think that UDRS makes for wonderful television,” Morgan said. “It adds a dimension to the package that a viewer receives, and I do believe that the broadcasters have a responsibility to fund part of it. Cricket is not afloat with dollars and pounds and euros. It is not a rich sport and we believe there has to be a contribution.”But next time Bangladesh host international cricket, against New Zealand in October, I am sure that the BCB will have the equipment available,” he added. “They clearly regret not having it in this series.”Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh’s captain, was critical of the BCB following the third day’s play, saying that had they chosen to pay for the referral technology, his team could have claimed a first-innings lead over England and made a push for their fourth Test victory.”We would have been in a very good position if [UDRS] was in use here,” he said. “I think we would have asked for a referral four times with full confidence, and three of them would have come to our way for sure. It’s really bad for us that we did not use the referral system, which we could have done.””Umpires can make mistakes, but a series of mistakes have gone against us, and it’s very unfortunate,” said Mostafa Kamal, the BCB president. “We have been talking about [UDRS] issue, but we found that other countries have not been using it extensively, so we thought that, first of all, we must know about the system itself. It is very delicate and if we misused it, it might go against us.”Speaking during an official visit to Bangladesh ahead of next year’s World Cup, Morgan also defended the integrity of the ICC’s elite umpires following Andy Flower’s pre-series comments that more influential teams tend to get the rub of the green in marginal decisions, a suggestion that was backed up by Bangladesh’s coach, Jamie Siddons, at the close of the third day’s play.”I have a great deal of time for Andy Flower. I have not chatted with him on this matter, but I’d like to,” said Morgan. “I cannot accept that any of our international or elite umpires are biased. This game will be monitored in Dubai, and the match referee is here monitoring umpire performance as well. We will also listen to the captain of Bangladesh and the coach, but their views will not necessarily be regarded as value judgements at the end of the day.”The UDRS system is being rolled out and is being used significantly more than in situations such as this when it is not in use,” said Morgan. “Boards and broadcasters are being pressed to ensure it is available, and I think it will not be too long before we have the system operating with the optimum equipment available at each Test match, wherever it is played in the world.”

Liam Plunkett inspired a Durham fightback at the Riverside – but by stumps on the second day a safe draw was surely still the limit of the dual champions’ realistic ambitions against Essex

16-Apr-2010
ScorecardJames Foster added 339 for the fifth-wicket with Jaik Mickleburgh as Essex continued to dominate•Getty Images

Liam Plunkett inspired a Durham fightback at the Riverside – but by stumps on the second day a safe draw was surely still the limit of the dual champions’ realistic ambitions against Essex. Durham’s hopes of beginning their bid for a hat-trick of county titles with an opening Division One win over their promoted visitors receded significantly on the opening dayTonight, after Jaik Mickleburgh (174) and James Foster (169) had shared an
Essex record stand of 339 for the fifth wicket in a total of 484 and Durham had
replied with 83 for 1, the equation favoured the hosts even less. Durham toiled through 108 wicketless overs as Mickleburgh and Foster shut them out on a slow pitch, only for the next four to fall for just six runs with Plunkett suddenly and unexpectedly clicking into gear.By then, the proximity of the third new ball was merely an indictment of Durham’s lack of success. Yet Plunkett – who had drawn a blank for 25 overs – saw off Mickleburgh, Ryan ten Doeschate and Graham Napier among the four wickets to fall in 13 balls.Mickleburgh chopped on, with the score on 441, and ten Doeschate fell in the same over when Plunkett got one to keep low and beat him on the back foot for an lbw verdict. The first of two brilliant catches by Dale Benkenstein, at backward-point off Callum Thorp, saw off Foster – and when he repeated the trick at slip, Napier gone for a duck, Essex could suddenly do with a handy few runs from their tail to keep the match momentum. In the end they did so, Tim Phillips providing the shot of the day with a switch-hit for six over point off Ian Blackwell – before he was last out.Mickleburgh, watched today by England selector James Whitaker and known to have impressed some good judges, already had a maiden hundred to his name when he began this morning. But it was Foster who dominated the early scoring on a day of unbroken sunshine as Durham’s famed pace attack – significantly minus injured first-choice pair Steve Harmison and Graham Onions – got nowhere for so long.Foster brought up the Essex 300 with an on-drive for four in Mark Davies’ first
over after replacing Mitch Claydon. Mickleburgh had two scares, on 114 and 116. First, Kyle Coetzer almost brought off an outstanding one-handed catch from a
flick to square-leg off Thorp.Then Plunkett, the only seamer operating with the wicketkeeper still standing back, thought he had Mickleburgh caught behind with his first delivery but could not persuade umpire Martin Bodenham. Foster had already posted his 14th first-class hundred with a dismissive pick-up sweep shot from slightly out of his crease off Thorp.The afternoon brought no hint of respite for Durham, who were struggling even for damage limitation by the time Plunkett got through Mickleburgh. The 20-year-old had bagged 13 fours and a six – and even after Foster had gone too, with 19 fours and two sixes from 354 balls, the suspicion was Essex felt they had plenty of runs in the bank.In 29 overs of evening batting from Durham on a surface which provided a good balance between bat and ball but little speed for either, there was nothing to dramatically alter that impression.Chris Wright got one to kick off a testing line and length to have lynchpin Michael Di Venuto caught at second slip; then Coetzer and captain Will Smith stayed put for an unbroken half-century stand. Two days into their campaign, Durham can only be even more aware than they were at the outset that there is good reason why no one has managed a hat-trick of titles since Yorkshire managed the feat in 1968.The county championship is a hard thing to win.

Jesse Ryder is flying home to New Zealand after an elbow injury forced him out of the two Twenty20s against Sri Lanka in the United States next weekend

Cricinfo staff16-May-2010Jesse Ryder is flying home to New Zealand after an elbow injury forced him out of the two Twenty20s against Sri Lanka in the United States next weekend. Ryder, who has just returned from a long-term stomach problem, left the squad to get a thorough assessment of the complaint, which hampered him throughout the World Twenty20.”The focus for him now is the Sri Lanka tour [in August],” the team manager Dave Currie said. “So he has returned to assess the extent of the injury and to get ready for that tour.”While Ryder exits the team, Andy McKay is re-entering it to replace Shane Bond, who retired on Friday. The coach Mark Greatbatch said McKay’s selection was a good opportunity for him to join the squad and prepare for the trip to Sri Lanka.”We brought Andy into the frame during the summer series against Bangladesh and he showed us some things we haven’t had before, with a left-armer swinging it at good pace,” Greatbatch said. “It is a good opportunity for him to play against a subcontinent side [Sri Lanka] before we tour there.”New Zealand were originally scheduled to play three Twenty20 matches against Sri Lanka in Florida, but that has been reduced to two due to the quality of the lights at the Broward County Regional Park stadium. Those games will occur next Saturday and Sunday.

England batsman Ian Bell steered the Warwickshire Bears to a tense three wicket victory over the Derbyshire Falcons in a low scoring Friends Provident t20 game at Derby

Cricinfo staff09-Jun-2010
ScorecardEngland batsman Ian Bell steered the Warwickshire Bears to a tense three wicket victory over the Derbyshire Falcons in a low scoring Friends Provident t20 game at Derby. Despite Bell’s 66 off 56 balls the Bears stumbled chasing the Falcons’ 120 for 4 on a damp, misty night, and there were only four balls to spare when Chris Woakes struck the winning runs.Woakes had earlier conceded only nine runs in his four overs as the Falcons found scoring difficult on a sluggish surface and they needed a late surge from Robin Peterson, who was unbeaten on 35 from 27 balls, to give them a shot at defending their total.Derbyshire were looking for another explosive innings from Loots Bosman but the South African was bowled first ball by Woakes in the first over and the batsmen struggled all night to get the ball away on a slow, low pitch. Chesney Hughes, dropped at deep midwicket on 13, was in for nine overs for his 24, and at the half-way stage of the innings the home side were 47 for 3.Tight bowling and sharp fielding from the Bears kept the brakes on until the 15th over when Peterson launched Darren Maddy over long on for the first six of the night. Greg Smith repeated the shot as 18 came from the over, the most expensive of the innings, but his dismissal for 38 in the next over pegged Derbyshire back again, although Peterson’s late charge gave the bowlers something to defend.The South African reverse swept Ant Botha for six and four as 17 came from the last over, and those runs looked increasingly valuable when the Bears lost Jonathan Trott to the third ball of their reply. The England batsman lofted Steffan Jones to third man and when Neil Carter got a leading edge to extra cover, the visitors were 4 for 2.Bell drove Tim Groenewald for two successive fours but the former Warwickshire seamer had Jim Troughton caught at mid-off for two trying to hit over the top. At 25 for 3, the Falcons were well in the game but Bell and Darren Maddy put the visitors back on course with a stand of 58 in eight overs.Bell was dropped by wicketkeeper Lee Goddard off Garry Park on 41 with the score on 56, and he looked like taking the Bears to victory before a late wobble gave the game a final twist.Maddy clipped Smith to mid on, Bell skied a slog-sweep at the off-spinner and former Derbyshire skipper Rikki Clarke was yorked by Jones to leave the Bears needing 16 off the last three overs. When Ian Westood was unluckily run out for 12 the game was back in the balance, but Woakes hit Smith over the top to seal the Bears second win and send the Falcons crashing to their first defeat.

Jonathan Trott’s resistance was in vain as Lancashire wrapped up a 65-run victory over Warwickshire at Edgbaston for their third Championship win of the season

20-May-2010
Scorecard
Jonathan Trott’s resistance was in vain as Lancashire wrapped up a 65-run victory over Warwickshire at Edgbaston for their third Championship win of the season.Warwickshire were challenged to make 441, the highest fourth-innings total in their history, to deny Lancashire and they briefly threatened to reach that target. Trott and Neil Carter put on 102 in 26 overs in a defiant seventh-wicket stand which denied Lancashire their first breakthrough of the day until half an hour before lunch.But once Carter went, bowled by Sajid Mahmood, the chase faltered. Trott was last out, caught on the mid-wicket boundary for 150, in the second over after lunch as Warwickshire were dismissed for 375.Carter was the main aggressor in the partnership with Trott, making a belligerent 92-ball 73 which tested the patience of Lancashire’s England paceman James Anderson. Carter twice top-edged pulls off Anderson for four over wicketkeeper Luke Sutton, which forced Lancashire captain Glen Chapple to post a long stop to stifle the left-hander.Carter’s third half-century in six championship innings swept Warwickshire along at almost a run-a-minute rate for the first hour and it looked like his luck might be in when he was dropped at long leg by Ashwell Prince on 62.Carter pulled Mahmood but Prince fumbled the chance and the ball bobbled over the rope for four. Trott, who had completed his first championship century of the season yesterday, contributed only 24 to the stand with Carter but he was content to play a sensible supporting role, defending solidly and nudging the singles to allow his partner to attack.The stand was eventually broken when Carter was beaten by a well-concealed slower-ball yorker from Mahmood when Warwickshire had got their target down below 100. Once Lancashire had made the breakthrough it was a matter of trying to keep Trott off strike and working away at the other end.Imran Tahir’s jittery stay was brief as he was caught behind fencing at Anderson, which gave the England man his first wicket of a match he joined at the halfway stage direct from the World Twenty20 in the West Indies.Lancastrian Andy Miller blocked out against Mahmood but gave Anderson his second wicket when he nibbled to Sutton after Trott took a leg bye. That left Trott with only last man Boyd Rankin to keep him company and he fired a few defiant shots, pulling Mahmood for four in the last over before lunch.Warwickshire were nine down at the interval and Trott reached 150 courtesy of a dropped catch by Paul Horton at long-on off Mahmood, before he pulled the same bowler to Steven Croft who held a running catch at deep mid-wicket.

A year on from a harrowing Ashes series Ravi Bopara is still searching for his route back into the England line-up

Sahil Dutta07-Jul-2010A year on from a harrowing Ashes series Ravi Bopara is still searching for his route back into the England line-up. Asked to bat at No. 3 last summer, he had his game ruthlessly unpicked by Australia and made just 105 runs in seven innings before being dropped for the final Test. It was a harsh experience but Bopara insists he’s grown from it and can return a better player.”It has been a rollercoaster year but a really good experience,” he told Cricinfo. “There have been some high points and some really low points but it’s good to get those early in a career. Ultimately, I love cricket and all the emotions that come with it – there are hard times, but I also know there will be good times and you just have to ride those waves.”Since his Ashes disappointment Bopara’s only taste of England action was being part of the World Twenty20 squad in West Indies where he played one match as Kevin Pietersen flew home for the birth of his child. He suffered more disappointment last Sunday when he was left out of the one-day squad to face Bangladesh despite Pietersen’s injury but responded emphatically by making 168 for England Lions against West Indies A. With the emergence of Eoin Morgan and the resurgence of Ian Bell, however, it’s a difficult route back to the top level.It’s almost difficult to remember but in the two series against West Indies that preceded last summer’s Ashes, Bopara became only the fifth Englishman to score three Test hundreds in a row (after beginning the run in Barbados). At that stage his languid talent looked set to become a fixture in the England middle order and judges no less than Sachin Tendulkar had even spotted something “special” in him. So what happened?”Last time it was my first Ashes series and I probably put a bit too much pressure on myself, demanding myself to do really well and I got a bit desperate,” he said. “You know when you want to succeed you tense up and stop your instincts and natural game from coming through. That makes batting a lot harder.”It suggests a tension that his on-field persona doesn’t reveal. Bopara has never carried himself with the same intensity of Mark Ramprakash or the nervous diffidence of Bell. If anything, he appeared too casual – an impression not helped by a series of loose dismissals in the four Tests against Australia. Yet he insists the reality is different and, though working on some technical issues, sees freeing up mentally as the key to his improvement.”The way I approach cricket now is that I go out to enjoy myself and whenever in doubt, to take the positive option,” he said. “I think that’s the way to play cricket. I spoke to Nasser [Hussain] a couple weeks ago and told him I was getting a little bit desperate for big scores and he just reminded me about who I really am and what I’m really about. It helped me a lot, helped me relax.””I’ve done some technical work as well, because when you correct your technical issues, it helps you mentally. You back yourself just that little bit more because you know you’ve given yourself a better chance.”Having gone through the Essex system under the guidance of Graham Gooch and later Andy Flower, Bopara’s connection to the national set-up remains strong. In the past Gooch has also hailed his qualities but while the two have worked closely before, Bopara has spent his time away from the England side in solitude and he is clear about what he needs to do.”I look to do a lot of these things by myself. I’ve worked a little bit with Goochy but I do a lot of work alone and spent plenty of time over the winter improving my game,” he said. “I know what I’ve got to do to get back in – more than anything it’s score runs and take wickets – there is no other way in. You can say what you like but you need runs and you need to perform as a bowler – to try and fill an allrounder role.”His bowling returns in limited-overs cricket this season have improved significantly and he is currently the highest-wicket taker in the triangular series the England Lions are involved in alongside India A and West Indies A.”I see bowling as a good route back into the limited-overs side in particular,” he said. “I worked hard this winter – these days with Twenty20 you don’t need to be a gifted technical bowler, you just need to get it in the right areas and it’s paid off so far.”At the moment England’s limited-overs teams look fairly settled but Bopara could unseat Luke Wright at No. 6, filling the role down the order where he first displayed his international talent in the 2007 World Cup. But despite earmarking the 2011 World Cup in Asia, Bopara refuses to get bogged down in speculation.”I’d not thinking about it too much, just taking it game by game. I’d love to play in the World Cup, but I’ve got to concentrate on the here and now and score runs in my next game for the Lions and keep pushing at the door.”His more immediate concern is impressing for Essex when they meet Kent who are playing a ‘home’ Friends Provident t20 match at The Oval. “The pitches there are quite good so hopefully it will be a packed house and a lot of good fun.”Fun, it seems, is the word Bopara wants to drive his return to the England side.Ravi Bopara was speaking to promote the Friends Provident t20 match between Essex and Kent hosted at The Oval on Friday. Tickets are available at www.britoval.com/tickets and on 0207 8205700.

England Under-19s made steady progress on a rain-interrupted second day to finish 32 runs behind Sri Lanka Under-19s in the first Test at Northampton

Cricinfo staff22-Jul-2010England U19s 255 for 5 (Javid 79* Rafiq 73*) trail Sri Lanka U19s 287 (Dunn 4-50) by 32 runs

ScorecardAzeem Rafiq followed up his 23 overs on the first day with an unbeaten 73•PA Photos

England Under-19s made steady progress on a rain-interrupted second day to finish 32 runs behind Sri Lanka Under-19s in the first Test at Northampton. When bad light brought a premature end to proceedings captain Azeem Rafiq and Ateeq Javid were both unbeaten with half-centuries having guided England out of trouble after they had slipped to 123 for 5.With conditions still aiding the seamers Sri Lanka had to wait until the 23rd over to strike, with Charith Jayampathi snaring Daniel Bell-Drummond for a 32. Having broken the 77-run opening stand Jayampathi burst through with two quick wickets in his next over. He had Joe Root caught for a patient 40 and removed Luke Wells two balls later.With England wobbling on 78 for 3 Lewis Gregory joined Javid for a careful 45-run stand before Chathura Peiris revived Sri Lanka’s fortunes with two wickets in two balls. First he trapped Gregory in front and then had Jack Manuel caught for a duck.Thereafter Javid and Rafiq took control, easing to a 122-run stand in just under 31 overs. Rafiq was the more positive of the two, stroking 12 boundaries while Javid ticked along at his own pace, facing 130 balls for his 79. With the captain at the helm, England will look to push on tomorrow and, weather permitting, build a lead big enough to ensure there is no way back for the tourists.