Denesh Ramdin, the Trinidad and Tobago wicketkeeper, has been named to the West Indies A one-day squad

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Nov-2010Denesh Ramdin, the Trinidad and Tobago wicketkeeper who was cut from the West Indies contract list earlier this year, has been named to the West Indies A one-day squad that will play three games against Pakistan A starting on November 9.”This is an opportunity for Denesh to regain some confidence and form even as he helps to develop younger players by imparting knowledge gained while playing for the West Indies senior team,” Clyde Butts, the chairman of the WICB selection committee, said.Ramdin lost his central contract following “less than favourable” performances over the past year, prompting the T&T board to arrange for him to work under the supervision of former West Indies opening batsman Gordon Greenidge. Ramdin has averaged 15.75 in Tests during 2010, a tick over seven runs below his career average.In addition to Ramdin, 20-year old Nevis opener Kieran Powell, who has played two ODIs, finds a place, as does Antigua fast bowler Gavin Tonge, who has played one Test and five ODIs. However, Jonathan Foo who was named in the T20 squad, misses out.”In selecting the team it was to ensure that players who can go on to play immediately for the West Indies team in case of injury to any player on the West Indies squad have cricket under their belt,” Butts said. “It was also with a view to the development of young players who show potential for the future, and finally ensuring that players who have done well in regional competitions are exposed to higher level competition.”Pakistan A’s tour of the West Indies began on November 3, and consists of two Twenty20s, three one-day matches and two four-day games.West Indies A one-day squad: David Bernard Jr (capt), Jason Holder, Devendra Bishoo, Jonathan Carter, Rajindra Chandrika, Johnson Charles, Kirk Edwards, Andre Fletcher (wk), Nikita Miler, Kieran Powell, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Ravi Rampaul, Gavin Tonge

New South Wales’ trio of Test hopefuls – Phil Hughes, Usman Khawaja and Steven Smith – struggled to make an impression on the first day of the Sheffield Shield match against Western Australia at the WACA

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Nov-2010
ScorecardUsman Khawaja was in Brisbane earlier this week hoping to make his Test debut, but today could manage only 17 for New South Wales•Getty Images

New South Wales’ trio of Test hopefuls – Phil Hughes, Usman Khawaja and Steven Smith – struggled to make an impression on the first day of the Sheffield Shield match against Western Australia at the WACA and it was left to 18-year-old Nic Maddinson to hold the innings together as the visitors were bowled out for 291. Maddinson, who struck a century on first-class debut against South Australia last month, made 72 of those to counter a strong performance from the Warriors’ seamers, and the home side’s opening batsmen then negotiated a four-over burst to go to 0 for 3 at stumps.Hughes looked in superb touch as he and Phil Jaques went past an untroubled half-century opening stand, and was particularly punishing through the covers as he rattled along at close to a run a ball. He collected three boundaries in one Ryan Duffield over and looked set to advance his claims for a Test spot before both he and Jaques fell in quick succession to seamer Drew Porter as New South Wales slipped from 0 for 83 to 2 for 90.Porter, whose last first-class appearance was in 2008-09, was only included in WA’s side for this match after Michael Hogan withdrew with a back problem. He struck in consecutive overs, trapping Jaques lbw and tempting Hughes into an edged drive to second slip. Not long afterwards Smith, batting at No. 4, chipped to mid-on where Michael Beer held a juggled catch and New South Wales were 3 for 104.When Khawaja and Moises Henriques were dispatched in the afternoon session, the visitors were 5 for 164 and wobbling. Maddinson and wicketkeeper Peter Nevill eased them past 200 with a 62-run partnership for the sixth wicket, Maddinson striking 12 fours in his half-century before he was removed by Beer. A typically bellicose 19-ball 33 from captain Stuart Clark took New South Wales close to 300, but his new-ball bowlers were unable to break through in a short burst before the close as Liam Davis and Wes Robinson dug in with extra-cautious tenacity.

Alastair Cook believes that Paul Collingwood will fight his way back to form in the final two Tests of England’s Ashes campaign at Melbourne and Sydney, and feels that his spirit in adversity will be a key inspiration as England seek to recover from their

Andrew Miller in Melbourne21-Dec-2010Alastair Cook believes that Paul Collingwood will fight his way back to form in the final two Tests of England’s Ashes campaign at Melbourne and Sydney, and feels that his spirit in adversity will be a key inspiration as England seek to recover from their three-and-a-half day thrashing in the third Test at the WACA, and regain their lead in the series.Collingwood has been struggling to make an impact in the series to date, with notable failures during England’s first-day collapse in the first Test at Brisbane and then in both innings at Perth, where he was unable to contend with a fast bouncy wicket and a pumped-up Australian attack. He currently averages 16 for the series, but has made just 99 runs in his last nine Test innings, having also struggled with the moving ball in England’s home series against Pakistan.Cook, however, has seen it all before from Collingwood, who saved his Test career with a battling century against South Africa at Edgbaston in 2008, and who has been an invaluable source of resistance in England’s middle order in recent seasons – not least at Cardiff eighteen months ago, when his last-day 74 guided England most of the way to safety in a match that provided a decisive momentum shift in the 2009 Ashes.”I think we all know that when his back is right against the wall that’s when he plays his best cricket,” said Cook. “That hundred against South Africa at Edgbaston was brilliant, it was one of the best hundreds I’ve ever seen in those conditions, and when the going has got tough over the last 12 months, when we’ve been desperately trying to save a draw, Colly’s the guy who you want and has been out there. When his back’s against the wall, 99 per cent of the time he delivers the goods and it’s very good to have someone in the side like that who is a fighter.”Cook himself knows how fickle the pursuit of form can be – it was only last summer that he himself was facing the axe from England’s Test team after a string of low scores, but he turned his game around with a gutsy century in the second innings of the Oval Test against Pakistan, and then went into overdrive against Australia, racking up 450 runs in his first three innings of the series, including a career-best 235 not out at Brisbane.”I had it last summer so we all know what Colly’s going through,” said Cook. “But he looks confident when he’s training, he feels in good spirits and he’s been there a number of times before, so he knows how to come out of it and I’m sure he will.”England as a collective will have to come out of their own form dip this week, after a defeat that caught them somewhat on the hop, given how dominant they had been in Adelaide in particular, and given how toothless Australia’s attack had appeared in the absence of Mitchell Johnson, whose return to form produced one of the most spectacular spells of swing bowling in an already remarkable year for the art.Cook, however, believes that the defeat – while damaging for their immediate series prospects – will serve as a timely reminder of the unique challenges that arise on an Ashes tour, because at no stage for the rest of the tour will any situation be taken for granted. “I think it’s good for everyone [to recognise] this Australian side is very good and they got written off very quickly after we played very well at Adelaide,” he said. “But they’ve come back very well here and we’ve got the opportunity to do that in Melbourne.”We had a good meeting after the game about it, trying to put a few issues to bed,” he added. “Obviously we didn’t play very well. I thought we bowled pretty well but the batters – to get bowled out for 180-odd and 123, you’re not going to win any games with that – so it was very disappointing after what we achieved so far on the tour. It has been a tough couple of days.”It was not, as Cook admitted, the first time that England’s batting has let them down this year. In Johannesburg back in January, the top order were wiped out in seaming conditions by Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, before Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif tormented them at different stages of each of the four Tests against Pakistan.”We’ve got a little bit of a history doing it, losing wickets quickly,” said Cook. “That’s an area we’re desperately trying to improve on. I think in those first few games on this tour we’ve been very good at not doing that. So it’s disappointing it has crept back in such an important game, but sometimes a reality check is not the worst thing for us as. After scoring so many runs in those two games this wasn’t a great game to do it in, but it keeps our feet firmly on the floor.”Players tend to be very honest within the group about what we thought went wrong,” he added. “But as people know, there is no magic cure to do it, so the only way of trying [to stop that] is individually. Those first few balls you go in, that’s when it’s most dangerous, especially when momentum has built up against you. Maybe we didn’t quite recognise that quickly enough. But you have to give a lot of credit to how the opposition bowled as well.”Despite a six-wicket haul in the second innings for Ryan Harris, it was Johnson who scooped the plaudits on the bowling front, after rediscovering his ability to bend the ball at 90mph back into the right-hander. Cook insisted that they had been prepared for such a mode of attack, but the speed of their collapse on the second day, with Johnson claiming 4 for 7, suggested otherwise.”With that wind pushing it in late at 90mph, he bowled well,” said Cook. “We weren’t surprised by it but [compared to] what we saw at Brisbane, he didn’t swing it back in at all there. Then to turn it around and swing it as much as he did here, you have to give him a lot of credit for what he did [in the nets] in that game he wasn’t playing [at Adelaide]. We now have to be fully aware he can definitely do it.”Looking ahead to the Boxing Day Test, however, Cook doubted whether the pitch would offer quite the same level of assistance that Johnson found at the WACA. The three-day warm-up match against Victoria was played out on a deathly slow surface that required three declarations to make a game of it, and more recently, the MCG curator, Cameron Hodgkins, opted to prepare the second of two potential Test strips in a bid to get a surface with more grass covering.”Conditions will be different,” said Cook. “There’s some talk about the Melbourne wicket at the moment, but historically the WACA is quick and Melbourne is not as quick so it can’t change too much. It did swing last week in that warm-up game, mainly reverse swing so it will be interesting to see what the weather’s like and whether it does that again.”

Zimbabwe batsman Tino Mawoyo insists he is ready for the challenge of the World Cup after receiving a surprise call-up to replace Sean Ervine

Liam Brickhill28-Jan-2011Zimbabwe batsman Tino Mawoyo insists he is ready for the challenge of the World Cup after receiving a surprise call-up to replace Sean Ervine, who pulled out of the squad for the tournament due to personal reasons.”I was both excited and a bit surprised when I got the news,” said Mawoyo. “I was disappointed to have been left out at first just like all the players that have not been included, but despite having been left out I have been working hard all along so I think I will be as ready as the other guys when the World Cup starts.”Mawoyo, an opening batsman who played two one-day internationals against Bangladesh in 2006, has been one of the more consistent batsmen on the domestic limited-overs scene over the past two seasons. He furthered his claims for national selection with some impressive innings in the unofficial Test series against New Zealand in October last year, and his entry to the World Cup squad will also give the team more options at the top of the innings.”There is a slight change in the dynamics of the side as we lost a batsman we could have got some seam from,” explained national coach Alan Butcher. “On the other hand now we have a batsman who is used to opening the batting. I was comfortable with the options we had in that regard but now we have somebody who is used to taking the new ball at the top order and whose natural inclination is to play shots.””Tino has done well to improve on his fitness, as asked to, and he has had some rewards for his hard work,” added Butcher. “He has shed some weight and we can push that along for the next few weeks. Let’s hope that he takes to our regime for people to become fit and strong and at the same time compete in that way against other teams. We’ll get a good idea about how his attitude and mind work by the end of the tournament.”Mawoyo was in ebullient mood after being asked to join the squad and suggested that if Zimbabwe play to their strengths they could upset some of the bigger teams at the tournament. “We have always shown we are a good team,” he said. “We can get positive results against some of the big guns in our group if we apply ourselves fully. Everybody is excited and raring to go so I have a feeling it will be a successful outing for us.”Mawoyo’s words will have pleased Butcher, who expressed his hope that the Zimbabweans would approach the World Cup with a spirit of fun and adventure. “Pressure and opportunity are different sides of the same coin and I hope our people will look at it as an opportunity and an adventure rather than being under pressure,” he said.”There are other teams in the world cup that will be under more pressure than Zimbabwe and that is purely because their expectations will be greater. We have our own expectations but the more we can look at it as an opportunity to showcase individual and collective talent, rather than something that should stop us from performing, the better.”National team assistant coach Steven Mangongo added that he expected Mawoyo, who he suggested had been unlucky to miss out on selection in the past, to make the most of this opportunity. “It’s a big opportunity for him to finally get his international career going,” said Mangongo. “I always thought he was one player that had been left out who deserved to be in the squad. He is one of the few specialist openers that we have and we hope he takes this opportunity with both hands and does the job.”

A round-up of the action from the sixth day of matches in the 2010-11 Vijay Hazare Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Feb-2011

South Zone

Tamil Nadu saw off a spirited fightback by Andhra’s lower order to complete a 24-run win at the Perintalmanna Cricket Stadium in Malappuram. S Badrinath’s 99 and R Sathish’s 76 had helped Tamil Nadu reach 300, and the seamers then took early wickets, reducing Andhra to 116 for 6. Vemu Lenin, who made 65 not out, and Andhra’s tail made a fight of it, but Tamil Nadu always looked in control. Badrinath and Sathish had taken the game away from Andhra with their sixth-wicket partnership of 129 off 90 balls. Sathish’ 76 came off just 53 balls. Seamer Sunil Sam did the early damage for Tamil Nadu, taking three wickets, before the lower order battled. Andhra were finally bowled out for 276 in the final over.Goa’s spinners were all over Hyderabad at the Fort Maidan in Palakkad, leading their team to a seven-wicket win. Amit Yadav, Shadab Jakati, Dhiraj Narvekar and Sher Yadav took eight wickets between them – the other two were run-outs – as Hyderabad were bowled out for 158. After a solid start, Hyderabad collapsed from 54 for 0, with Amit Yadav the most successful of the spinners, taking 3 for 22. Goa lost some early wickets in their chase, but Rohit Asnodkar made sure there were no further hiccups, scoring and unbeaten74 off 85 balls, as his team eased home in 39.5 overs.

Eoin Morgan is all set to become only the fourth player to have represented two countries in World Cups

Sidharth Monga in Chittagong09-Mar-2011Eoin Morgan is all set to become only the fourth player to have represented two countries in World Cups. His has been as interesting a story as the club of three he joins: Kepler Wessels, Anderson Cummins and Ed Joyce. When he played in the West Indies for Ireland four years ago, he – and all his Irish team-mates for that matter – knew that Ireland was just a milestone along the way. The destination was always England.Four years on, having fulfilled his dream of playing Tests for England, Morgan had to live with the disappointment of missing out on the other, the World Cup, with a broken finger. Two weeks into the World Cup, when Morgan was planning to go for a Champions League football match later in the week, he got a call from coach Andy Flower. Kevin Pietersen was injured. Morgan was needed. Champions League games can wait.”Obviously a call from Andy couple of days ago was a great feeling,” Morgan said before his first training session in the World Cup. “I have been part of the squad in the past. To come back in, and be part of the World Cup is very exciting.”Morgan almost didn’t make it, for the first diagnosis on the finger that he damaged during the one-day series in Australia was that it would need surgery. “The first day I arrived back in London, I saw a specialist,” he said. “The first analysis was that we needed an operation, but we wanted to wait a week to see what the progress was, healing and all. After a week, he changed his diagnosis, and from there it has healed quite nicely. It’s pretty strong at the moment.”The recuperation time has been spent in training with Middlesex, and in many ways it has come as a welcome break from a tiring schedule. During that down-time, he watched Ireland, the team he last represented, beat England, the team he now represents, and refers to as “we” Mixed emotions there were none. “It was an outstanding innings by Kevin O’Brien. I was pretty distraught that we lost, and didn’t get the result that we wanted. Ireland played really well.”Morgan hasn’t batted much at all during the break, but he doesn’t feel concerned about it. “Personally I don’t feel sort of undercooked or underprepared,” he said. “I feel very fresh. After nets for a couple of days, my preparation will be pretty similar to what it has been in the past. So I feel ready, yeah.”As expected, Morgan will walk into the side, and return to his favourite No. 5 position, from where he has scored two of his three England hundreds and averages 52.46 as opposed to 40.00 overall. “I mean I have been very successful at No. 5 in the past,” he said. “So it’s my favourite position to bat. I find coming in the middle overs, being a left-hander and playing spin okay, it’s one of the better parts of my game. Yeah I love batting at No. 5.”Being a good player of spin, Morgan brings value to the middle order. Moreover, this is his fourth trip to Bangladesh, which means he shouldn’t need much adjustment. “The conditions are always challenging here,” he said. “There is different bounce, there is turn in the pitches. The only thing I will have to adjust is to the heat. I hope I can produce some past sort of performances that I have here.”Having had time to think about the ODI series in Australia, Morgan doesn’t want to repeat mistakes he made in a disappointing series, in which he mae 106 runs at 17.66. “I didn’t play that well,” he said. “There have been a couple of games where I gave it away easily. I got out to bad balls. I can learn from that. It was a bad series for me.”Even though he comes in as a result of a big loss to England, Pietersen, there is huge anticipation around the return of Morgan, who has been one of their best in ODIs over the last year or so. Morgan doesn’t see that as pressure. “It doesn’t really bother me. I don’t dwell too much on it,” he said. “I am just going to try and play the exact some role I did, and try and sort of execute my skills as much as I can. As long as England are winning, I don’t care how much expectation is put on mine or anybody else’s shoulders.”

Cricket Kenya has announced a comprehensive review into the team’s disastrous World Cup campaign, where they bowed out before the knockouts, having lost all their six league games

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Mar-2011Cricket Kenya has announced a comprehensive review of the team’s disastrous World Cup campaign, where they lost all their six league games to bow out before the knockouts. The review will take in every aspect of the squad’s preparation and performance at the event and will be conducted by board officials and chief executive Tom Sears, with assistance from the ICC.Since beating Canada in their opening match of the 2007 World Cup, Kenya have lost 14 successive 50-over matches in major tournaments (World Cups and the ICC World Cricket League Division One). They were one of only two teams to end the World Cup winless, a huge fall from grace for a team that reached the semi-finals of the 2003 tournament, and used to be one of the leading Associates. The lowest point of their campaign was the defeat against a Canadian outfit comprised of semi-professional expats.”Clearly our performances at the World Cup have been completely unacceptable and a radical overhaul of our national squad is necessary,” Sears said. “The team was comprehensively beaten in all six matches and aside from one creditable performance against Australia, the displays we saw were simply not good enough.Tom Sears said Kenya’s World Cup debacle “cannot be tolerated”•AFP

“An enormous amount of time, money and resources have been invested into the squad, and our most experienced player Steve Tikolo stated this was the best preparation any Kenyan squad had enjoyed prior to the World Cup. There has been no return on that investment which amounts to well over $700,000 in the last 12 months and clearly this cannot be tolerated. We will look at every facet of our national team structure and composition and make recommendations on all areas we feel where change is necessary. I anticipate these will be widespread across all areas of the game.”The review will include detailed reports from key personnel including team coach Eldine Baptiste, captain Jimmy Kamande, the team manager, and board member John Moyi, who travelled with the squad. Additionally, members of the team management and players will be interviewed in depth. The review will be finalised by May, following which recommendations on changes will be put to the board.

Scotland’s selectors have named a 13-man squad to play Durham on April 24 and Leicestershire a day later, as their 2011 Clydesdale Bank Pro 40 campaign gets underway

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Apr-2011Scotland’s selectors have named a 13-man squad to play Durham on April 24 and Leicestershire a day later, as their 2011 Clydesdale Bank Pro 40 campaign gets underway. Fresh from a win at Lord’s against MCC, Scotland coach Pete Steindl has included young Middlesex prospect Josh Davey in his squad after Cricket Scotland came to an agreement with the county.Calvin Burnett drops out but Heriot’s wicketkeeper Simon Smith has been included in the squad. The squad includes Ewan Chalmers who made his maiden century for his country against MCC this week.Captain Gordon Drummond will also be able to call on Tasmanian Luke Butterworth who impressed with bat and ball against the MCC and is expected to be make his CB40 debut.Following the fixture against Durham on the Sunday, the Scots head to Grace Road for what will be their second televised fixture against Leicestershire in as many seasons, having beaten the team home and away in the 2010 season.Scotland squad to face Durham and Leicestershire Gordon Drummond (Captain, Carlton CC) Oliver Hairs (Grange CC), Ryan Flannigan, Ewan Chalmers (Watsonian CC), Richard Berrington (Greenock CC), Preston Mommsen (Carlton CC), Gregor Maiden (WK, Grange CC), Luke Butterworth (Tasmania), Majid Haq (Clydesdale CC), Matthew Parker (Forfarshire CC), Gordon Goudie (West of Scotland CC), Josh Davey (Middlesex), Simon Smith (Heriot’s CC)

Simon Katich has announced that he will play on for New South Wales after being axed from Cricket Australia’s contract list on Tuesday, a decision he slammed as “ridiculous”

Daniel Brettig10-Jun-2011Simon Katich has given Australian cricket a mighty shake. In the most extraordinary public repudiation of Cricket Australia and its selectors, Katich laid bare the discontent among players around the country about the ways of the national selection panel and the part-time nature of its work.Both Katich and his former Australian team-mate Stuart Clark were adamant about the need to implement a system whereby the selectors were employed full-time and made to be as accountable for their decisions as the players are for their performances.In just one of many memorable lines, Katich summed up the incongruity of $2 million-earning players being judged by part-time selectors on $40,000 a year by saying “when you talk about money you get the best in the business for paying. If you pay peanuts you get monkeys”.”There’s been talk about that (full-time selectors) for a while now but nothing’s been done about it,” Katich said. “It’s a business, there’s no doubt about that, that’s just the way sport has gone. Being realistic it’s got to go that way, because you’re dealing with guys’ careers. This is not just me, there’s plenty of other guys out there as well who’ve gone through this. So maybe something good will come out of this situation.”Technically I’m still contracted until the end of June 30. So no doubt the phone will ring and I’ll probably have to answer for this. But at the same time, I’m not going to stand up here and lie about it all, because that’s not going to help anyone moving forward. Hopefully the review, something good will come out of that review, because this might just be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.”Having been removed from the list of CA-contracted players on Tuesday, Katich bided his time to compose himself and decide whether or not to keep playing. His announcement that he would continue for New South Wales was followed by what can only be described as a blitz of angry yet focused and carefully-chosen words about the selectors.”I’m extremely disappointed and frustrated with the decision I found out about on Tuesday but I also want to make it clear that I know I’m not the only player who has gone through this in the last couple of years due to inconsistent policies,” Katich said. “I just hope that something good comes out of this situation because I actually think the decision that came on Tuesday was absolutely ridiculous.”It certainly didn’t come as a total shock on Tuesday, only because I know how they operate. I’ve been through this situation before. From my point of view, to hear the news was very disappointing, particularly because of the reason that was given. To be given the reason that it’s because the opening partnership needs to bed down for 2013, when I know for a fact that Watto [Shane Watson] and I have thoroughly enjoyed opening together, and it’s been one of the bright spots of our team in the last two years, I find it very hard to believe that [a new partnership needs to come in].”This is not just about me but a number of players that have felt aggrieved at how they’ve been treated by the selectors in particular. Not just the selectors, by CA. There’s people above the selectors that make the decisions on their futures and also our players’ futures because they ratify the decisions that are made.”I’m one of a number of players that will be in this situation. Having spoken to Paul Marsh, the ACA boss, there’s actually no course of appeal against this happening. As a player we’ve got absolutely no way apart from legal proceedings to answer back.”Katich said he and his manager Robert Joske had seriously considered legal action, via unfair dismissal laws, before reasoning that it would be better to air his grievances rather than drag them through the courts. His venom was directed as much at CA’s management apparatus as the selectors themselves, who were placed in an unenviable position of having to name an early squad for the first Ashes Test due to marketing and publicity demands.”There needs to be more consistency,” Katich said. “The facts are a week or two before the Ashes a squad of 17 was named. In my opinion if you can’t know what your best 11 is a week or so before our biggest Test series that we play in the Ashes, that to me reeks of indecision.”The fact that we’ve had 10 or 11 spinners in the last two or three years whatever it’s been, obviously some have been through retirements and injury and stuff like that, (but) that to me is another indicator of the inconsistency in selections. There’s been rules for some and rules for others.”I’ve got no doubt that it (the 17-man squad) did (unsettle the team) and I’m sure there’ll be other players in the team saying the same thing because you’ve got so many guys looking over their shoulder about whether they would play or not. If you were to compare it to how England prepared, they were settled, they played the same team in all their warm-up games and no surprise that they had a very good campaign.”As for the chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch and his phone call to deliver the bad news, which took place just before a fitness test for NSW players, Katich felt he deserved better.”As soon as he told me the reason, which was what was being trotted out in the press about wanting the opening partnership to bed down for the 2013 Ashes, that got me steaming obviously,” said Katich. “Because to hear that when our opening partnership is something that’s been one of the strong points of the team, and something that Watto and I actually really enjoy doing. I’ve received a really nice message from him, of support, and expressing his disappointment that we won’t get to open again.”I’d be lying if I said I didn’t (consider retirement). Every thought goes through your mind, and this isn’t just something I’ve thought about since Tuesday because I know how they operate and I could see it coming. I’ve only had a four-minute conversation with Andrew Hilditch on Tuesday, and I haven’t heard from anyone else at CA since, and I’ve been involved in the organisation since 1999.”After Katich’s 20 minutes of fury had concluded, Clark said it was “a joke” that the selectors were not all full-time. At present the chairman Andrew Hilditch, plus Jamie Cox and the outgoing David Boon, are employed on a part-time basis, while Greg Chappell is installed as a full-time national talent manager and selector.”I think it’s a joke that they’re part-time. You’re dealing with $2 million salaries and a guy that works part-time getting $40,000 a year, it’s laughable,” Clark said. “(Full-time) would make them more accountable. At the moment they have got some sort of accountability, but when was the last time you saw a selector sacked for a poor selection? I can’t seem to remember one.”Selection’s a tough ask, you’ve got to balance a lot of different issues and a lot of different perspectives. Whether this is right I’m not sure, but let’s just hope the selection process gets better because of this.”He’s arguably Australia’s best batsman over the past three years, so for him not to be selected can only mean that they’ve just said ‘you’re too old and we want to go down a youth path’ and any other job in the country that’d probably end up in court somewhere.”A four-minute conversation is probably not enough for someone that’s been part of the organisation for 12 years. How long is right I don’t know, but surely Simon deserves something more than that.”

Ravi Rampaul played a role, but the thoughtlessness of Pakistan’s batting played a bigger one as they limped to 180 for 6 on a rain-affected first day of the second Test in St Kitts

The Bulletin by Osman Samiuddin20-May-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMisbah-ul-Haq’s team wasted the advantage gained by winning the toss on a flat pitch•AFP

Ravi Rampaul played a role, but the thoughtlessness of Pakistan’s batting played a bigger one as they limped to 180 for 6 on a rain-affected first day of the second Test in St Kitts. The tourists won the toss and the surface looked blameless; no undue movement, good, even bounce and a
history of high scores. Yet only Azhar Ali and Umar Akmal realised its true worth, and their half-centuries were sandwiched between two collapses.It was difficult to know which collapse was worse. The second came as Pakistan were recovering, not entirely composed but firmer than they had been. Ali was providing the calm, Akmal the oomph. The pair had come together at 74 for 4, with nearly half the day gone. The impetus was provided by Akmal, who played an attacking shot to every ball he faced initially.There was some beauty – a front foot cut off Rampaul for instance – but it was hidden among skittishness. The innings’ 44th over, from Devendra Bishoo, was typical: Akmal beaten by a legbreak, then slicing an ugly slog, then sweeping fine and almost popping a catch to cover.But tea came 40 minutes early because of rain and it instilled in Akmal some of the calm of Ali. There were still strokes – how can there not be? – such as a lovely, clipped three through midwicket off Darren Sammy, before the shot of the innings, a dancing loft over long-off against Bishoo. But these increasingly became the exception, as he put his head down and, like a recovering amnesiac, remembered how Test innings are built.Ali was as much a contrast as he could be in a 93-run stand, nervous to begin, eventually composed if not ever authoritative. Sammy troubled him, again bringing the ball in off a good length. Ali treated it first as some unfathomable delivery thrown down by a freak concoction of Dennis Lillee,
Muttiah Muralitharan and Paul Adams. He fairly crawled to lunch, unsure and jumpy in allowing four of the last six overs to pass as maidens.But Ali’s bubble acquired greater robustness in the shortened afternoon session. He reached out to Bishoo to drive and then, when the legspinner erred short, he cut him through cover. After tea, a back foot punch off Sammy – now much more decipherable – brought a seventh Test fifty, though
there was also a sharp chance to slip soon after.Akmal brought up his sixth fifty just before the fourth and longest rain-break of the day and just as all appeared well, he slipped back into his coma. Chasing a Sammy ball wide enough to be wided, he top-edged the slog to third man. Four overs later Ali went, run-out in a careless mix-up with Mohammad Salman; only Asoka de Silva was more careless in not spotting that Salman should’ve been out because he grounded his bat after Ali at the non-striker’s end. Pakistan ended the day with no recognized batsmen left, no total on the board.Those late wickets restored the natural order of the day, of a committed West Indies and thoughtless Pakistan. As good as Rampaul’s figures for the morning looked – 3 for 13 – and as well as he did bowl, it’s difficult to pick out what was exceptional about it. As in the last Test, he ran in precisely with the enthusiasm of a man unable to believe how his career has suddenly soared, racing in so the dream doesn’t suddenly end.The control was exemplary and if the pitch didn’t offer the movement of last week, it offered bounce. Otherwise there looked nothing to suggest anything other than what has gone in two previous Tests here: big runs, forgotten draws.And yet, by the time of a nine-minute rain interruption just after the first drinks break, Pakistan’s top order was done and dusted. It took Rampaul four overs to strike and then he couldn’t stop. Taufeeq Umar went first, gloving one that bounced while trying to leave it; Mohammad Hafeez
went next, edging essentially a straight ball that bounced a fraction more; Asad Shafiq fell the over after, cutting a wide ball straight to point and Pakistan were tottering at 24 for 3.Misbah-ul-Haq helped put on an even fifty with Ali, but when he fell, needlessly swiping Bishoo to mid-on, he did nothing to dispel the day’s most vivid impression: more than just poor batting – much more worrying in fact – maybe Pakistan’s batting is simply not up to it; still or yet, depending on who you’re looking at.