All posts by n8rngtd.top

Cricket South Africa (CSA) has appointed IFM, a sports marketing company, to investigate the poor attendances at the matches against England.

Cricinfo staff23-Nov-2009Cricket South Africa (CSA) has appointed IFM, a sports marketing company, to investigate the poor attendances at the early matches against England. The first Twenty20, played on a Friday evening at the Wanderers attracted only 16,600 fans, in a 34,000-capacity stadium, while under 8000 showed up for the second at Centurion on a Sunday.The glut of international fixtures has been a contentious issue recently, with concern that the overloaded calendar is forcing supporters to pick and choose between events. South Africa is a prime example, having already hosted last season’s IPL, the Champions Trophy, rugby union’s Lions tour and football’s Confederations Cup during 2009, while they will host the football World Cup in June and July next year.Locals might simply have reached sporting saturation and want to save their cash for major events. With these growing concerns, Gerald Majola, the CSA chief executive, is urging fans to get in touch and help administrators understand why supporters are staying at home.”We like hearing from the fans. The last fan survey we ran provided some interesting insights, some of which we have already followed up on,” he said. “People asked for more information so we launched our Facebook and Twitter platforms which have been extremely popular and has dramatically improved our interactions with fans.”Falling crowd numbers for one-day fixtures, which traditionally have been well attended, doesn’t bode well for the upcoming Test series which have often been a harder sell. South Africa hosted Australia last year to contest the top spot in Tests but the games took place in front of almost empty stands.Marc Jury, the managing director of IFM, the company commissioned to study the trend, believes the problem could lie with cricket being designed to favour TV audiences over live ones.”Through our research across different sporting codes we have always encountered the response that the ‘energy and atmosphere’ of live sporting events is a critical element in drawing supporters to the ground,” he said”Something that is evident is the live experience has not kept pace with the ease and comfort of the ‘TV product’ and thus people often choose to watch from their living rooms instead of Row F. Too often rights holders make decisions based on gut-feel and not by listening to what their fans want.”

England’s women’s team were awarded team of the year at the Sports Journalists’ Association Awards on Wednesday.

Cricinfo staff10-Dec-2009England’s women were rewarded with the team of the year title at the Sports Journalists’ Association Awards on Wednesday.The award caps a remarkable year that has seen them win the World Cup, the Twenty20 World Cup, retain the Ashes and defeat Australia 4-0 in the NatWest one-day series.The Sports Journalists’ Association is made up of more than 700 members and the award was presented at the annual British Sports Awards lunch at The Brewery in London.Claire Taylor, who amassed 199 runs in four innings in the Twenty20 World Cup and 342 runs at 64.80 in the World Cup, was also rewarded at the ceremony, finishing third in the sportswoman of the year category.Clare Connor, the ECB head of women’s cricket, said: “It is a massive honour for the team to win this award and to receive recognition from the sports journalists after a phenomenal year for women’s cricket.”With a tour to India followed by the ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies and a home series against New Zealand, the next seven months will present exciting challenges for the team to sustain this year’s level of success.”Not only have the players achieved impressive results on the pitch this year but their success has encouraged huge numbers of girls to participate in our sport which is crucial for our long-term development.”The awards continue a week of good news for the team after coach Mark Lane won coach of the year and high performance coach of the year at the UK Coaching Awards ceremony on Tuesday.The team can look forward to a packed schedule next year, beginning with a five-match ODI and three-match Twenty20 series against India in February before the team heads out to the West Indies in April to defend their World Twenty20 crown. They will then begin a series of home fixtures against New Zealand in June.

Cricket Kenya’s chief executive Tom Tikolo has resigned after it was discovered US$10,000 was unaccounted for

Martin Williamson21-Dec-2009Cricket Kenya’s chief executive Tom Tikolo has resigned after it was discovered US$10,000 he claimed while in the West Indies for a tournament last year was unaccounted for. The news comes after a week-long investigation by CK officials.Rumours that Tikolo was being questioned started circulating last week and he quit after a meeting with the board on Sunday. It is thought he has offered to pay the money back to CK.In a rather vague statement, Tikolo said he had stepped down for the good of the game adding, “I want to deny any wrong doing in all the dealings mentioned in those allegations”.It appears that Tikolo asked for the allowance, which was on offer from the sponsors of an Under-15 tournament in the West Indies in May 2008 which he attended, to be paid to him in cash. He subsequently claimed a bag containing the money was stolen a few days later, a fact he reported to the sponsors but not to the local police. The Kenyan board only became aware of this last week. Tikolo said he was too frightened to report the loss to his bosses and so decided to say nothing about it.However, there were inconsistencies in Tikolo’s story. He conducted his exchanges with the sponsors through his private email and not his official CK one. All other boards had the allowances paid into their central bank accounts, as is normal. He also told sponsors he needed to be paid in cash as his side was returning home through Dubai and he needed the money to pay for matches taking place there. But there were never any such games arranged.The matter might never have come to light had an ex-employee of CK not hacked into Tikolo’s private email and discovered the exchanges. They were then passed on to a former player who circulated them to the national and international media. Other emails have been reprinted by local newspapers but those appear to have serious issues regarding their authenticity, and there seems little doubt that some parties with wider agendas have been looking to exploit the situation.”When my personal mail is hacked into for the purpose of casting aspersions on my integrity, the honorable option for me is to step aside,” Tikolo said. “I urge you not to cry as I am not dead. But for those faceless enemies that are out to tarnish my reputation, do not rejoice as there is no grave that you will dance around on and collect soil for your traditional rituals.”The news will be a blow to the current administration of CK as they have always sought to distance themselves from the financial shadows which dogged the discredited old Kenyan Cricket Association.It will also be a shock to the wider cricketing community as Tikolo, a former Kenyan international and older brother of Steve, is a much-respected figure. A former ICC development officer, he became CK’s chief executive in 2005 and had forged a reputation as one of Africa’s most trusted administrators.Quite why a sponsor paid cash in this way is another matter which should be investigated. There are also question marks over the role of West Indies Cricket Board officials after it emerged that Donald Peters, the former chief executive, was consulted by Tikolo after the alleged theft and yet the matter remained private until now.

Kevin Curran, the Zimbabwe Under-19 coach, says his side are in good shape to upset a few of the bigger nations at the World Cup in New Zealand

Marc Ellison14-Jan-2010Kevin Curran, the Zimbabwe Under-19 coach, has said his side is in good shape to upset a few of the bigger nations at the World Cup in New Zealand and refused to use the current unstable political situation in his country as an excuse for lack of depth and preparation.Curran, the former national coach, who was criticised for telling his players to simply compete before looking to win matches, was upbeat about his side’s’ chances and saw his role as a chance to give something back to his country.”I’ve been involved in Zimbabwe cricket since 2000 and for me politics and sport have never mixed. My job is to actually give back what I learned when I first started my career and cricket has come a long way. In the last three or four months everybody has really tried to get cricket going in the right direction and we’ve gone a long way,” Curran said.”I don’t know why so much is being made of the [political] situation. To be honest I’d like to do my best and give back what I learned in the sport. If you look anywhere in the world there are things that work well and things that haven’t worked so well. I just think from a cricketing point of view there are a lot of talented players in Zimbabwe and I’m trying my best to get the best out of them.”Curran believed the political situation at home did not deter teams from travelling to Zimbabwe, pointing to the Pakistan Under-19 team tour of 2009. “We’ve had a really good build up this year. We had a series against Pakistan where they came and toured Zimbabwe, we’ve had a tour to Bangladesh which was a really good experience for our young guys and then we went via Johannesburg, played at their High Performance Centre and played against their Academy.”There’s been quite a lot of cricket for these guys, where in the past World Cups they haven’t had many warm-up games to get that exposure because they come straight from school cricket. And then to play on the international stage is quite a big step. I’ve tried to give them as much exposure as possible and from February when I took over, they’ve certainly improved 50%, so we’re hoping for some good things.”Zimbabwe are paying the price for their poor showing in the 2008 event in Malaysia where they finished 14th, thanks to disappointing losses to Malaysia, Nepal and Ireland. As a result, they are being grouped in 2010 with hosts New Zealand and Sri Lanka. However, Curran doesn’t see the tough group as an issue, saying he has faith in his team to do the job.”Basically only two go through in our Group out of New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Canada [and Zimbabwe] so it’s tough. I’m quietly confident that if we get it right on the day we’ve got the players to beat all three of those sides.”We’ve shown against Pakistan where we beat them once and we came very close against Bangladesh. In fact, we should’ve won a couple of games against Bangladesh. It was just through a little bit of inexperience perhaps that we lost those games. We competed in all of them and that’s the bottom line at this level when guys come from school boy cricket and haven’t had that exposure as long as they are proving that they are learning every time, they are going to become good cricketers.”Hopefully I can keep this side together for the next two years and hopefully there’s one, two, maybe three players who can go on and push to play for the national side in the not-too-distant future.”Curran has changed the trial system that was in place for the Under-19 team selection. Previously, trials would be conducted at the end of the school year, but Curran felt that the system was dated and that too many youngsters were falling through the net.This time around, in February, he sent scouts out to look for the best young players and report back to him before selecting a squad of 70. A series of trial matches followed and the squad was whittled down to 35 with which Curran worked closely for three months before finally settling on the 15 for the World Cup.He is far happier with the new system and, even though his side haven’t had the same international exposure as some of the other teams at the tournament, he is confident that their preparation stands them in good stead.”Obviously it would have been nice to have a few more practice games but what I will say for the organisers of the cricket has been fantastic. Just today we had a warm-up game against Afghanistan at Lincoln in one of the outer grounds and I don’t think I’ve seen an outfield like that on some of the Test grounds I’ve played. The facilities have been unbelievable and people have gone out of their way to do the right thing. For these young guys whatever happens in the tournament, they are going to come out better people and better guys.”Curran is aware he must watch how he approaches the players regarding the tournament and be careful not to blow things out of proportion.”I think sometimes young guys are a bit naive and maybe that’s a good thing because if you hype it up too much for them it can complicate things for them more. We’ve done a lot of hard work off the field and our preparation in that sense has been pretty good, so they’ve just got to go out there and enjoy the occasion.”If you make it too big an occasion then perhaps you won’t get the best out of them. I want them to just go and express themselves and, should they do that, they have the capability to do well.”

At the start of the series Chris Gayle tipped a 4-1 win for West Indies, but given their predicament he would probably settle for 1-4

Peter English11-Feb-2010

Match Facts

In the mood: Ricky Ponting finished Tuesday’s win in Adelaide with 57 not out•Getty Images

Friday, February 12, SCG

Start time 1325 (0325 GMT)

The Big Picture

At the start of the series Chris Gayle tipped a 4-1 win for West Indies, but given their predicament he would probably settle for 1-4. Calling the tourists out-classed in the opening exchanges is being polite to guests and if they lose in Sydney on Friday the five-game contest will be decided with two matches spare.After West Indies’ fight in the Test series earlier in the season, the follow-up campaign has been hugely disappointing, although Gayle hasn’t been helped by a batch of injuries which kept many of his best men at home. Batting has been the most serious problem, with the tourists managing 143 on the way to a 113-run loss in Melbourne, and 170 in Adelaide after being 4 for 16. The second game, which was watched by only 8378 spectators, was finished in the 27th over of the chase.Australia have been outstanding throughout the limited-overs segment of the summer and are on a 10-match winning streak. With a 2-0 lead, the hosts have been able to rest key players in Shane Watson and Brad Haddin, but there won’t be any relief for West Indies as the locals pursue an undefeated summer.

Form guide (most recent first)

Australia WWWWW

West Indies LLLLL

Watch out for…

Everything for West Indies currently revolves around Chris Gayle. The match in Adelaide was basically over after Gayle’s first-ball departure and he must find a way to escape from the restrictions Australia have placed on him. Over the past week Gayle has remained cheery and upbeat in public but in his private moments he must feel like a one-man band. He is so important that at the moment the scenario is Gayle out, game over.Ricky Ponting has run into some good form with scores of 55, 49 and 57 not out in his past three games, but will be wanting more. With his developing team doing incredibly well, he can relax at the crease, which isn’t a good thing for the opposition bowlers. He pulled Kemar Roach in Adelaide, showing he is not haunted by the fast man’s short balls which got him in the Perth Test, and will look to sign off with a century to seal the series.

Team news

The wicketkeeper Tim Paine and Adam Voges come into the squad for Shane Watson and Brad Haddin, who are resting. Paine has opened in 14 of his 15 ODIs and will slot in with Shaun Marsh at the top. With Watson out, Australia could play all four fast men and Nathan Hauritz, which would leave James Hopes and Voges to miss out.Australia (possible) 1 Shaun Marsh, 2 Tim Paine (wk), 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Cameron White, 6 Michael Hussey, 7 Mitchell Johnson, 8 Ryan Harris, 9 Nathan Hauritz, 10 Clint McKay, 11 Doug Bollinger.West Indies were unchanged in the second game but after two horrible defeats will have to do something to spruce up the side. Gayle has talked about needing some substance in the middle order, which could give Brendan Nash an opening, while Wavell Hinds is another option, possibly for the struggling Runako Morton.West Indies (possible) 1 Chris Gayle (capt), 2 Wavell Hinds, 3 Travis Dowlin, 4 Narsingh Deonarine, 5 Brendan Nash, 6 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 7 Kieron Pollard, 8 Dwayne Smith, 9 Nikita Miller, 10 Ravi Rampaul, 11 Kemar Roach.

Pitch and conditions

Pakistan chose to bowl first at the SCG last month and were rolled for 127 in their chase as the bowlers took advantage of seaming conditions. It has been another wet lead-up and there are storms predicted for Friday afternoon, along with a maximum of 31C. If that happens the bowlers will be happy again.

Stats and trivia

• West Indies’ top six batsmen have scored 150 runs in the past two games while Australia’s top four have managed 310
• Only one game at the SCG has been won by the batting side from the final ball of the 50th over. That came in 1995-96 when Michael Bevan starred against West Indies
• West Indies have twice scored fewer than 100 at the SCG, with 87 in 1992-93 and 91 in 2000-01
  

  Quotes

  “At 2-0 down in a five-match series, this is the time for some of our players to come of age.”
  
  
  “Every time we start a series that’s our goal, to go undefeated. It’s no different in this series. We played really well against Pakistan. We gave them nothing and we’ll be doing that against the West Indies.”

Afghanistan’s maiden first-class game on their now official home ground – Sharjah – got off to a poor start with Canada’s top order piling on the runs on the opening day of their ICC Intercontinental Cup match

Cricinfo staff20-Feb-2010
Scorecard’Afghanistan’s maiden first-class game on their now official home ground – Sharjah – got off to a poor start with Canada’s top order piling on the runs on the opening day of their ICC Intercontinental Cup match. Ashish Bagai top-scored, but missed out on a century, and there were half-centuries from Trevin Bastiampillai and Nitish Kumar as Canada reached 350 for 6 by stumps.Canada’s openers, Sandeep Jyoti and Bastiampillai, added 61 before Jyoti was dismissed by Mohammad Nabi for 32. Kumar then joined Bastiampillai for another protective stand for the second wicket, worth 50, but the innings’ best alliance was between Kumar and his captain Bagai. They added 155 but Canada were jolted when both fell in consecutive overs, leaving the innings on 271 for 4. Bagai had made 93 before he was caught by Samiullah Shenwari off Mirwais Ashraf.Ramesh David and Sunil Dhaniram were building another useful stand when Shenwari struck two blows late in the day, bowling David and trapping Jimmy Hansra lbw, to raise Afghanistan’s spirits. Canada, who were on 266 for 2 at one stage, finished on 350 for 6.

Shane Warne, the Rajasthan Royals captain, has described Yusuf Pathan’s brutal 37-ball century against Mumbai Indians as the best innings he’s seen in his 21-year career

Cricinfo staff13-Mar-2010Shane Warne, the Rajasthan Royals captain, has described Yusuf Pathan’s ferocious 37-ball century against Mumbai Indians as the best innings he’s seen in his 21-year career. Yusuf blasted nine fours and eight sixes to haul Rajasthan back into the game in their chase of 213, after they had required 143 in 57 balls at one stage. However, his innings – the second-quickest Twenty20 century – was in vain, as he was brilliantly run out by R Sathish, marking a decisive moment in Rajasthan’s four-run defeat.”I’ve played cricket for 21 years and I have seen Sachin Tendulkar as the best batsman against whom I have played as he has murdered attacks and hit them all over the park. But today was the best innings I have ever seen,” Warne said. “From a situation of 37 for 3 in seven overs and chasing 213 and come so close thanks to a 37 ball-100. It’s a special innings. We believe we can win from anywhere. We just have to sort out our batting in the first six overs. In the last two IPLs we have won more games than anyone and we have won more close finishes.”Lasith Malinga and Zaheer Khan, Mumbai’s fast bowlers, delivered yorkers consistently at the death when 19 were required off 12 balls. Rajasthan only managed 14, but Warne said the three run-outs in his team’s innings and some lapses in the field while Mumbai were batting cost them in the end.”Malinga is a good bowler at the death. We had plans to get to within eight runs of the target,” Warne said. “The start wasn’t great with a run out in the first over. Three run outs in the innings, a couple of dropped catches and some extras. That probably cost us the game in the end. We’re proud of the way we played. We have a lot of young players who will take a lot from this.”Yusuf regretted his dismissal but took heart from his team’s spirited comeback. “I made an error because of which we lost, else we would have won,” he said. “We’re sad right now but we are also very happy that we played good cricket apart from the extras we conceded. When such flat wickets get made, records get broken and runs get scored. We will learn a lot from this loss and there is not a lot to worry as this is a long tourney.”Mumbai’s strong batting performance was a result of half-centuries from Saurabh Tiwary and Ambati Rayudu. Shaun Tait, the South Australian fast bowler, proved the most expensive, conceding 46 in four overs and undermining a big reputation coming into this tournament. Warne, however, defended Tait and was confident he’d get better. “Shaun Tait is probably one of the most exciting bowlers in the world,” he said. “Unfortunately today he didn’t get it right. There were patches where he did. But he’ll be better for the run.”Sachin Tendulkar, the Mumbai captain, hailed Yusuf’s knock as “special” and said he was aware of his ability to spark such a turnaround. “It was a special innings from him, but even the effort from R Sathish to get him run out was special,” he said.”Before he came in and played that knock, I thought we would win this match with ease, but that’s the beauty of this great game. You can never take anything for granted. I knew Yusuf was in great form and if he connects the ball well, the target was achievable.”

16-Apr-2010
ScorecardJames Anderson got the better of his England team-mate Jonathan Trott•Getty Images

Lancashire hold the advantage in their County Championship match against Warwickshire at Old Trafford thanks to a solid day with bat and ball. As was the case on the opening day of this Division One clash, wickets fell at a rapid rate in the opening overs.After seeing the hosts slump to 14 for 4 at the beginning of the match, Warwickshire followed suit – falling from their overnight score of 13 for 1 to 28 for 4 in the 13th over of the innings. But they recovered to 254 all out inside 75 overs and gained a first-innings lead of one. Home opener Stephen Moore (43 not out) then helped his side reach 84 for 2 from 25 overs in their second innings at the close on day two.Ian Bell, Jim Troughton and Rikki Clarke all made useful contributions with the
bat as Warwickshire fought back from their early troubles. England paceman James Anderson, Glen Chapple, Tom Smith and Simon Kerrigan each picked up a couple of wickets for Lancashire.Captain Chapple sent stumps cart-wheeling when he bowled Ian Westwood and night-watchman Naqaash Tahir in the 12th over before Anderson had international colleague Jonathan Trott caught behind by Luke Sutton for a golden duck. Bell top-scored with a serene 47 off 85 balls as he and Troughton put on 104 in a fifth-wicket partnership before the latter retired hurt with a migraine on 44. Clarke later added 43.Warwickshire reached 138 for 4 in the 40th before Bell was caught at short-leg by a juggling Mark Chilton to give 20-year-old left-arm spinner Kerrigan his maiden first-class wicket. And the debutant picked up his second six overs later when he had Tim Ambrose caught behind to leave the visitors 162 for six. He finished with the pick of the figures with two for 44 from 18.Clarke, who hit four fours and a six during his 70-ball stay at the crease, and Chris Woakes carried the visitors beyond 200 before Sajid Mahmood bowled Clarke in the 61st over. Woakes and Neil Carter then put on 37 for the eighth wicket before the latter was run out thanks to smart work from Steven Croft at point. The returning Troughton was caught in the slips by Paul Horton in the same Smith over without adding to his 44.At that stage Warwickshire were 239 for nine in the 73rd but Woakes and Imran Tahir carried them to the narrowest of first-innings leads. Their effort ended when Woakes (29) was caught at second slip by Moore off the bowling of Smith in the 75th.Smith then fell in the seventh over of Lancashire’s second innings when he was
caught by Ambrose off Carter to leave the score at 16 for 1. And Clarke brilliantly caught Horton (26) at second slip off Woakes to end a second-wicket partnership of 54 with Moore.

Jimmy Adams’ tentative 60 edged Hampshire into a narrow 148-run lead at the Rose Bowl as they bid to avoid a sixth straight domestic defeat of the season

07-May-2010

ScorecardHashim Amla’s calm 54 helped Mark Wagh wrap up a comprehensive victory over Hampshire•Getty Images

Mark Wagh’s brutal 131 propelled Nottinghamshire to their third straight
victory in the County Championship, as they condemned Hampshire to a five-wicket defeat to continue their dismal start to the season. Wagh plundered his devastating century off just 158 balls, including 17 fours and two sixes, after Hampshire had posted a gettable target of 246 earlier in the day.Hampshire, who must to contend with the troubling statistic of six defeats in all forms of the game, began the day on 177 for 4 with veteran Nic Pothas and teenager James Vince holding together the fifth wicket. But the partnership added only a further 13 runs before Pothas (30) was trapped lbw
by Pattinson.Vince (46) had looked in good touch, clipping three Pattinson deliveries
for boundaries in one forgettable over, but he then followed as Paul Franks
caught him square on the crease. Dominic Cork (28) and Sean Ervine (45) put on 48 for the seventh wicket but once Cork became Hampshire’s third lbw victim of the morning the collapse was complete.With the tail failing to wag as Kabir Ali and Rangana Herath were both
dismissed for ducks, Ervine then prodded Samit Patel to Bilal Shafayat at short leg three overs after lunch, at which point the visitors looked in total control.Hampshire’s recovery got off to a terrible start as Ali had to be replaced by David Griffiths in the attack following a back complaint, and Nottinghamshire openers Shafayat and Neil Edwards looked to go to work.
Michael Carberry’s brilliant diving catch from Griffiths dismissed Edwards for 8 but as Shafayat (12) was dropped by Chris Benham at third slip it looked set to be Nottinghamshire’s afternoon.Wagh progressed to a rapid half-century from just 42 balls as he looked to
get the job done quickly and at tea Notts were well-placed at 83 for 1.
Benham did eventually hold a catch to dismiss Shafayat but with Ali unable to continue bowling, Hampshire’s attack lacked the bite to claim the vital wicket of Wagh.Wagh duly brought up his century from just 123 balls amid chaotic scenes, as wicketkeeper Pothas fell awkwardly forcing Cork to replace him behind the stumps.
Meanwhile at the other end the South African international Hashim
Amla (54) made his way to a sound half-century before being caught by the substitute fielder Benny Howell off the bowling of Griffiths.Griffiths then claimed his third wicket as Patel (1) struck a
bouncer straight down the throat of Benham at third man, and then chipped in with a good catch to dismiss Ally Brown (14) off a top-edge from Herath, but it was all in vain as Wagh and Chris Read (7 not out) knocked off the remaining runs with ease.

It’s a contest between Ajmal Shahzad, the uncapped Yorkshire paceman, or Ryan Sidebottom to replace the injured Tim Bresnan, and the final decision will provide an insight into the selectors’ long-term planning

Andrew McGlashan at Old Trafford03-Jun-2010Assuming England don’t take everyone by surprise on Friday morning and change the balance of their side, they have just one selection poser ahead of the second Test against Bangladesh. It’s a contest between Ajmal Shahzad, the uncapped Yorkshire paceman, or Ryan Sidebottom to replace the injured Tim Bresnan, and the final decision will provide an insight into the selectors’ long-term planning.Throughout this season England are trying to increase the pool of players from which they can choose for any particular Test. It’s part of the reason behind the rotation system which has been implemented, with Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss keen to have a strong squad rather just a strong first XI. With a view to that it’s important they learn about new players, which would suggest these next five days are an ideal chance to find out about Shahzad.He has been part of the England squad since the Twenty20s against Pakistan in Dubai – where he marked his debut with two wickets in his first over before being dismantled by Abdul Razzaq at the end of the run chase – and he later made his ODI debut in Chittagong. However, he has since been overtaken on the Test scene by Steven Finn who leapfrogged him into the starting line-up for the first Test in Chittagong, only a matter of days after stepping off the plane from London.While playing Sidebottom may be a safer option – and his left-arm angle will also be tempting – the selectors won’t learn anything they don’t already know, and this may be the last chance in the near future to test Shahzad’s credentials, with Stuart Broad expected to return to face Pakistan later in the summer. Shahzad is also a like-for-like replacement for Bresnan with a first-class batting average of 32, and so would be expected to contribute usefully down the order.”With Ryan we know what we will get, he’s a very experienced campaigner, very good in English conditions, very good against left-handers and brings that different angle being a left-armer,” said England’s captain, Andrew Strauss. “Ajmal we don’t know as much about at this stage but are very excited about what we’ve seen which is why he’s been in the squad. He bowls with good pace, keeps running and can swing the ball both ways. It’s a choice between youth and experience and we have to decide what is the best way of winning this Test.”Bresnan received encouraging news after his injury was downgraded to a “stress reaction” with “no established fracture” following further scans, but his performance at Lord’s suggested he would have struggled either way to remain part of a three-man pace attack. There were occasions when England’s four-pronged unit looked light on firepower, especially with Graeme Swann having little influence on the match. Strauss is expecting more from the Old Trafford pitch, both for the quicks and the spinners, but a surface that aids the bowlers won’t do much to clear up the question of whether England need an extra option.”The balance-of-the-side issue is something we look at on a case-by-case basis but this wicket should have a bit more in it for the bowlers,” said Strauss. “Generally there’s a bit more pace and bounce and the spinner usually comes into the game a bit more so we are probably leaning towards four bowlers.”Two areas we wanted to improve were getting big hundreds, which to some extent we did with Jonathan Trott getting a double, and the second was finding ways of taking wickets when the ball isn’t doing much. I don’t think we did that as well as we could during the Test, certainly on day two and to a certain extent on day four when the sun was out and the ball wasn’t swinging. We weren’t able to apply as much pressure as we’d like and it’s an area we want to touch up on.”The pitches will be flat in Australia and the Ashes hype was notched up a few levels in Sydney on Wednesday when a selection of Australia players, including Ricky Ponting, launched the title sponsorship for the series. Strauss again admitted that the contest was never far from his mind even at the start of the English season, but that it was important not to lose focus on the present.”You have to look at a bit of both but primarily this game,” he said.
“As I said at the start of the summer it’s about winning and winning consistently then things will become clear as the summer goes on as to the personnel we need. I’d like to say we’ve half an eye on it, but the more immediate concern is this game.”