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The Pakistan Cricket Board has decided to appoint a full-time batting coach and has advertised for the post on its website. The role of batting coach is currently being handled by the head coach, Dav Whatmore, with the coaching staff also including Julien Fountain (fielding) and Mohammad Akram (bowling).The advertisement calls for candidates with at least Level III coaching accreditation, and at least five years’ experience working with top cricketers. The deadline for applying is November 4.Pakistan cricket teams have generally had plenty of quality bowling options to depend on, and the batting has been seen as the weaker department. The idea of having a batting coach has been circulating for last three years, but it didn’t get the PCB’s approval till now. This is the first time the PCB is looking to appoint a full-time batting coach. Previously, Geoff Boycott, Javed Miandad and Basit Ali had short stints as consultants during cricket camps.After the exit of Ijaz Butt as PCB chairman last year, his successor, Zaka Ashraf, planned to recruit a specialist coaching panel covering batting, bowling and fielding but ended up appointing Whatmore with the additional responsibilities of batting coach. The decision to hire a separate batting coach has been taken this week after a detailed review of Pakistan’s performance at the World Twenty20, where the team reached the semi-final only to lose to Sri Lanka by 16 runs while chasing a target of 140.Pakistan’s next assignment is the tour of India, to plasy a series of three ODI and two Twenty20s, followed by the South Africa tour that begins next February.

Ace leg spinner Anil Kumble said in Bangalore on Friday that he was feeling much better but not yet match-fit, as he returned home after a thorough check-up and rehabilitation programme for his shoulder injury in South Africa.”I feel much better, and I have started bowling”, Kumble told PTI on his return after undergoing treatment by renowned specialist Dr Fergusson. Asked if he was totally fit now, Kumble, who had undergone surgery to his shoulder in Johannesburg in January, said he was not yet ‘match-fit’.Kumble had just completed a three-week thorough check-up and rehabilitationprogramme to his bowling arm in South Africa, where he was accompanied by Dr Premchand Khincha. “I have started net practice”, the Karnataka spinner said and expressed the hope that he would be available for selection for the South Africa tour from October.” He added “But if I recover before the SriLankan tour in July-September, that will be a bonus.”Meanwhile, Indian physio Andrew Leipus, who is already in Bangalore for the Indian team’s conditioning camp beginnning on May 13, said Kumble had shown remarkable improvement and he would be working with the spinner on his path to become fit.The camp for the probables for the Zimbabwe tour would be held at the Chinnaswamy stadium, and Indian team coach John Wright said the focus would be on fitness and improving skills and building on the success against Australia.

Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell have set an example that Australia’s captain Michael Clarke wants to see followed by others as the home summer draws closer.On his return from a draining overnight ODI series against Pakistan in the UAE, Clarke pointed to Starc and Maxwell as players who had responded to his call for young players to grab their chance, and hinted that Starc in particular may be further rewarded for his success.Clarke’s next assignment for Australia will be the Test series against South Africa at home in November, and Starc has done his claims to a place in the first Test XI no harm by managing to swing the ball and take wickets in conditions and on pitches that did not assist him. Maxwell also rated a prominent mention from Clarke in assessing the standout performances from the tour – his place in Australia’s limited overs plans now looks highly promising.”I thought Mitchell Starc’s bowling has certainly stood out for me,” Clarke said. “The way [Maxwell] played in the whole series, getting his opportunity and making the most of it. That’s something I’ve spoken about for a while now – about guys getting a chance.”Everybody wants to play for Australia but it’s actually making the most of that chance – grabbing hold of that opportunity with both hands and making it very clear to selectors that you want to be a part of this team. I think a few guys on this tour have certainly done that.”Starc’s confidence has risen considerably since the start of last season, when he debuted for Australia in Tests against New Zealand but did not look quite ready for the task. A mid-summer meeting with Wasim Akram aided Starc’s cause greatly, and he would contribute ably to two Tests against India and West Indies in the new year, before showing his continued development against Pakistan.”I think it’s confidence to be honest. He’s been around this group for a while now, he feels a part of the group. He’s bowled well for a long time,” Clarke said. “It’s just about Mitch continually trying to improve, working hard in the nets to get better, using his strengths as well as he can and tinker with your weaknesses.”He bowled with good pace. He’s such a tall guy and he swung the ball beautifully in conditions where there wasn’t much there for the fast bowlers as well. [But] I don’t want to take anything away from the other fast bowlers. I thought they did a great job, you look through the series, it wasn’t one individual player who won us the series. It was the whole team and that’s probably the most pleasing thing to come out of this UAE series for me, considering how we as a team played in England.”Australia’s resilience in dealing with a talented opponent utilising quality spin bowling in unfamiliar conditions, high heat and in a disorienting time-slot gave Clarke plenty of optimism for the future. It also showed the benefits of assembling the squad for an exacting pre-season camp in Darwin, where goals were set, training patterns established and rapport built up.”It’s another example of international cricket. You travel to different places around the world, you play in a lot of different conditions and this was very different,” Clarke said. “This was new for everybody. I think we can take a lot being able to get a series win in conditions we certainly weren’t accustomed to.”Apart from [David] Hussey and myself nobody else had played in the UAE – wickets that are so different to back in Australia – and hours that guys aren’t used to playing cricket in. That’s a really positive sign for the team, to be able to win in conditions so foreign to everybody.”Having retired from international Twenty20 duty, Clarke will now spend time around the New South Wales squad and lead the Blues in the first three Sheffield Shield matches of the new season before South Africa’s arrival.

Shashank Manohar, who stepped down as BCCI president on Tuesday, has disagreed with the perception that he quit the role to pursue the post of ICC chairman. In February, the ICC decided to hold elections for the chairman’s seat through a secret ballot with one of the conditions being the nominees had to be independent candidates not holding any position in their national boards.”The whole world knows how powerful the BCCI president’s post is in the global context. Why would I quit a post if I had been angling for it [ICC chairmanship]?,” Manohar told the . “I could have continued to be the BCCI president as well as the ICC chairman, and not pushed for a change in the global body to have an independent head.”Manohar has been ICC chairman since October, by virtue of his being the BCCI’s nominee for the role after he took over as the Indian board’s president. So, the decision to have independent candidates contest for ICC chairman was taken under Mahohar. He was supposed to serve as the ICC chairman till June, but, given he has quit his role in the BCCI, he loses the ICC chairmanship as well now.Under the radical reforms brought in by the Big Three comprising the BCCI, the ECB and Cricket Australia in 2014, the ICC had created the role of chairman with former BCCI president N Srinivasan taking the inaugural seat. Once the controversy-embroiled Srinivasan was replaced by Manohar at the BCCI, Manohar took over as ICC chairman as well. He had promised big changes and reforms within a two-month time frame in the BCCI when he took over, several of which kicked in on schedule. He also adopted a similar strategy at the ICC, shelving the Big Three’s decision to appoint the chairman by rotation from among representatives of the three countries only.According to the rotational plan, it was Cricket Australia’s turn to appoint its representative, who would serve as chairman between 2016-18, followed by a two-year stint by an ECB representative.According to Manohar, under the previous system the chairman was not serving as an independent official. Manohar said it was also “unethical” for him continue as ICC chairman once he had resigned from the BCCI. “There was a conflict of interest in the ICC which needed to be addressed. For example, if I am the ICC chairman and also the BCCI president, can I be expected to adjudicate fairly, or without bias, on any issue pertaining to Indian cricket?”As BCCI’s nominee, am I not duty-bound to fight for our cause? On the other hand, as ICC chairman, I am expected to protect its interests. That’s why I have proposed that the post of the ICC chairman should be made independent and it has been accepted unanimously.”Manohar said he felt no guilt at leaving the BCCI, considering he “delivered on all my promises well within that time frame” of two months of taking over as president. But the timing of Manohar’s resignation comes at a critical juncture for the BCCI, which has been locked in a tug of war with the Supreme Court of India, which has come down hard upon the board to implement the radical recommendations proposed by the Lodha Committee.Incidentally, Manohar did not offer any specific reason for stepping down but vaguely pointed out that he was not comfortable with some of the Lodha Committee’s proposed reforms. “After taking over as the BCCI president for the second time I did my best and brought in major changes in the organisation. I feel certain portions of the Lodha panel’s recommendations are not in the interests of the board. There is very little I can do in the current scenario. My conscience no longer permits me to continue.”Manohar said that even if his decision to step down came as a surprise to the public, he had kept the BCCI hierarchy in the loop about the move. According to Manohar, he had sent in his resignation letter to BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur four days before the news was made public. “I am not disenchanted with the BCCI, but with the overall scenario,” Manohar said. “I shared my thoughts with my colleagues over the past couple of months. I must say there was pressure on me to continue but I have never felt comfortable hanging on to any post without contributing significantly.”

ScorecardYorkshire’s cricketers were probably full of new-season optimism this morning and losing the toss will surely not have shaken their confidence. By close of play, however, Andrew Gale’s players had received a bracing dollop of what Division One cricket is all about.Bowled out for 96 in 46.2 overs, Yorkshire then watched as Chris Nash stroked a pleasing 80 off 87 balls. When bad light ended play 19 overs early, Sussex were already in the throes of establishing a strong position, albeit that Ryan Sidebottom had taken all three wickets to fall in a predictably unsparing display.”Every attempt is a wholly new start,” wrote TS Eliot in East Coker, and on few days in the sporting calendar does the sentiment seem more true than the first day of the County Championship season. It is nearly seven months since the players left the field in September and a lot of improvements can be made in that time. Spring beckons, albeit a chilly one this year, and at 10.45am on the first morning of the four-day season everyone is top of the averages. (“Bottom of ’em too,” the curmudgeons might reply but how many cricketers listen to them in April?)Andrew Gale made just 2 as Yorkshire’s top four managed 13 between them•PA Photos

In the many interviews they conducted before the start of the season Jason Gillespie and Gale were at pains to say how tough they expected the top tier of English cricket to be. It took less than a session for the Yorkshire hierarchy to be reassured that their judgement was spot on. Facing an attack that offered them very little loose stuff, the much-vaunted Yorkshire top-order, albeit lacking Joe Root, crumbled away like fresh Wensleydale on a wicket which justified Ed Joyce’s decision to bat first. Poorly placed on 40 for 4 at lunch, the batsmen could only add a further 56 in the afternoon session, even on a wicket which eased a tad.The star of the day was the ex-Surrey seamer Chris Jordan. Apparently surplus to requirements at The Oval, Jordan bowled with pace and accuracy to take 6 for 48, the best Championship figures of his career. His first victim, Gale, was a leg-side strangle but his others owed little to luck and much more to Jordan’s admirable rectitude, which proved too much for the techniques of some home players. Gale himself said that he had expected his batsmen to “stand up” and described some of the dismissals as “soft”Perhaps the skipper was thinking of Alex Lees, who battled with immense composure for 79 minutes and 51 balls before chasing a rather wide-ish one from Jordan. More likely he was referring to Jonny Bairstow, who made 29 before edging an attempted pull off James Anyon three overs after lunch. That gave the Sussex new-ball bowler a deserved second success and it began a collapse that saw the last six Yorkshire wickets tumble for 38 runs in less than 14 overs. Jordan made hay and the sun shone. Azeem Rafiq made an inventive 23 and was the last man out but none of bottom half of the home line-up could stay with him.When Sussex batted Nash took five boundaries off seven Jack Brooks deliveries and you could almost hear some of the home spectators muttering about “bloody headbands”. Sidebottom, whose coiffure has also seemed to need constraint at times, cheered the Yorkshire faithful a little more by trapping Luke Wells for 2 and then having Michael Yardy caught behind by Bairstow for 14, although the former skipper had added 76 with Nash by the time that wicket fell. Nash nicked a good ball to Bairstow just before play was halted but Yorkshire are already in need of more wickets early on Thursday. Gale’s men will not be pleased to be reminded that the full Eliot quotation reads: “Every beginning is a wholly new start and a different kind of failure.”

Former England batsman Geoffrey Boycott has said that Virender Sehwag may have played his last game for India. Sehwag was dropped for the last two Tests against Australia earlier this year and was also excluded from the list of 30 probables for the Champions Trophy.”I don’t think he’ll play again,” Boycott told ESPNcricinfo on the fortnightly show . “I think it’s because India have gone the right way. It took a little while to come around to it. They’ve given youth a chance. After they lost to England, I kept saying you have to give these young batsmen a chance. You have to get them in and you have to build again for the World Cup. I’ve never changed my view on that. You are world champions in ODIs, you have to move on, and it doesn’t matter who you are, I always say, age is not the barrier, it’s about performance.”Sehwag has had a poor run of form in the last year. In eight Test matches since April 2012, he scored 408 runs at an average of 31.38, with a highest score of 117. In six ODIs, in the same period, he scored 183 runs at an average of 30.5 and was dropped for the ODI series against England. His last ODI century was the record-breaking double-hundred against the West Indies in December 2011.Calling Sehwag one of the best batsmen of the last 20 years and praising him for his “effortless strokeplay”, Boycott said that the lack of a defensive technique was perhaps his only shortcoming. “He played it his way and, at times, on certain pitches, was highly successful,” Boycott said. “But when it comes to the ball moving around and it was a bit more bouncy, his defensive technique was exposed. But trying to tell him and make him play differently, how do you do that? Sehwag has got all his runs playing his way.”He also stressed that it was difficult for a player like Sehwag to change the way he played the game. “His nature, his personality, is a more happy-go-lucky, generous, easy-natured, friendly, affable sort of personality that fits in with the way he batted,” Boycott said. “He used to bat freely, with lots of strokes. It’s not in his nature to play carefully, steadily. I’m sure people have tried to say, ‘Can you play a little more carefully? You are older now, you maybe don’t pick the ball up quite as well or quickly, or you’ve still got lots of talent and use your experience.’ You tell everybody all these things but it’s very difficult to change people from what they are. And, it’s too late now. I think he’s just going to play a bit of IPL and then, sadly, fade away.”

The BCCI has revoked Praveen Kumar’s suspension, which he received following a violation of the players’ code of conduct in a Corporate Trophy game last month. The suspension stood indefinitely and extended to all BCCI-run tournaments, but since it has now been retracted, Praveen will be able to play in the Central Zone Twenty20 tournament for Uttar Pradesh from March 17 to 22.Following the match referee’s report that stated that Praveen had pleaded guilty for a Level 4 offence after abusing opposition batsman Ajitesh Argal while representing his employer Indian Oil, Praveen was suspended on February 10 and was issued a show-cause notice by the BCCI secretary, Sanjay Jagdale. In reply, Praveen accepted all the charges and apologised for his inappropriate conduct. The BCCI disciplinary committee – comprising president N Srinivasan, vice-president Arun Jaitley and Niranjan Shah – then decided to revoke his suspension following a stern warning.”A couple of members of the disciplinary committee had a teleconference with Praveen and have decided to put the matter to rest after issuing him one last warning,” a board insider revealed.It was learnt that Jaitley and Shah conducted a telephonic hearing with Praveen after he submitted his written reply, and the reported that Srinivasan studied his reply during India’s second Test against Australia in Hyderabad last week.

England fast bowler Steven Finn needs to keep striving for a solution to his costly habit of breaking the stumps with his leg in his delivery stride if he is to become the complete international fast bowler, according to the man who helped him rise to international level.Angus Fraser, the former England seamer and now Middlesex director of cricket, acted as a mentor to Finn during his formative years and is anxious that his coaches at county and international level find an answer to the technical flaws in his action.The problem of colliding with the stumps came to the fore again during the one-day series in India, when it cost him the wicket of Suresh Raina at a crucial stage of the fourth ODI.Raina edged to slip but Steve Davis signalled dead-ball following a warning earlier in the series that the next time it happened the ball would not count. Davis had also been the umpire to first signal dead-ball for such an incident, during the Test against South Africa at Headingley, which again deprived Finn the wicket of Graeme Smith.Reports from New Zealand, where England are preparing for the Twenty20 series, are that Finn is working on some small changes to his approach and delivery, which may account for his expensive performances in the warm-ups, and Fraser believes the remedial work is a painful but necessary transition.”With his height, pace and bounce he could achieve anything and I would be surprised if he is not opening the bowling for England against Australia home and away – it is a problem that will reduce his effectiveness and which he needs to correct,” Fraser told the . “Taking away all the fuss and drama of him missing out on those wickets, I’m just as concerned about what makes him collide with the stumps and the effect it has on his bowling.”When Steven hits the stumps at his end, it is because he is jumping at an angle into them in his delivery. Then to avoid running on the pitch he has to jump out to compensate.”It will only take minor changes to correct, and time getting used to putting the feet and body in a slightly different position, but it is something he needs to work at and correct if he wants to become the complete package.”I used to hit the stumps with my bowling hand occasionally and it hurt. Ian Botham booted all three out once, I’m told, and Mark Ealham used to flick a bail out of its groove and catch it as he went past without breaking stride. But the kink in Steve’s delivery appears more acute.”Finn is now a key part of England’s attack in all formats, although injury meant he was restricted to just one Test in the recent series against India. He was the most impressive of England’s fast bowlers in the one-day series last month and is likely to share the new ball with his captain Stuart Broad in the Twenty20 series against New Zealand, which starts on Saturday in Auckland.This article was adjusted at 2200GMT on February 6, 2012, after Angus Fraser clarified his views

Scorecard
West Indies women squared their five-match ODI series against South Africa 2-2, winning the final game by 22 runs in Roseau. Stafanie Taylor led the way for the hosts with 76 at the top of the order and putting together a 117-run stand for the second wicket with Shemaine Campbelle, which gave West Indies the foundation for a big score. However, they slipped from 129 for 1 to 177 for 8, Dane van Niekirk troubling them with some leg-spin that fetched her three wickets.The target, though, proved too much for South Africa in the end. West Indies made steady inroads into the batting in a collective bowling effort. South Africa had hope when top-scorer Marizanne Kapp and Cri-Zelda Brits forged a 31-run stand for the third wicket, taking the score to 98 for 3. But after Kapp fell, the rest of the batting crumbled. Brits was the last woman out, for 35, as South Africa were bowled out for 155. Three West Indies bowlers – Shaquana Quintyne, Campbelle and Shakera Selman – picked up two wickets each. West Indies were beaten in the first two games; they won the third and the fifth, while the fourth was abandoned due to rain.

India have dropped Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh for the Nagpur Test. Delhi fast bowler Parvinder Awana and Saurashtra allrounder Ravindra Jadeja have received their first call-ups, and legspinner Piyush Chawla replaced Harbhajan.Zaheer’s is the biggest fall. This is the first time he has been dropped from the Test side after his rousing comeback in 2006-07. He has taken 15 wickets in eight Tests in 2012 at a strike rate of 98 balls per wicket. In this series, he has taken four scalps at a strike rate of 133. Moreover, his fielding has been below par for some time. His replacement, Awana, took 5 for 81 against Karnataka in a Ranji Trophy match a day before the selection meeting. Reputed to be brisk, Awana has taken 21 Ranji wickets at an average of 21.57 this season.Yuvraj, called back after a double-century in the Duleep Trophy was deemed enough to prove his fitness, did not take his chance either. He scored 125 runs in five innings in the series. He has now played 40 Tests over various comebacks for three centuries and an average of 33.92.Yuvraj’s replacement, Jadeja, recently scored his third first-class triple-century in 13 months. He was dropped from India’s limited-overs squads earlier this year, but the two triples in one month this season and 18 Ranji wickets at 23.72 have put him ahead of Rohit Sharma and Manoj Tiwary in the queue for a middle-order slot. Jadeja told he had hoped to get his chance after his run in domestic cricket: “I have proved my ability to stay at wicket for a long time, which is necessary while playing Test cricket, and I was hoping after making two triple centuries I would be selected for Test cricket.”Even as the squad was being debated, Tiwary was busy rescuing Bengal with 55 out of a score of 112 against Jadeja’s Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy. Four of Bengal’s wickets, though, fell to Jadeja. Tiwary retired-hurt with a pulled muscle, but that happened after the squad was announced.Harbhajan was recalled for the Tests without any improvement shown in domestic cricket, but a lacklustre show in Mumbai means he will be stuck on 99 Tests for a while. Not that his replacement, Chawla, has set the domestic scene on fire, with nine wickets at an average of 48.33.Awana and Jadeja made it to the T20 side too. Uttar Pradesh allrounder Bhuvneshwar Kumar joined them in place of the injured Irfan Pathan. Virender Sehwag and Zaheer, left out of T20 squad, were unavailable for reasons the BCCI didn’t state. Ajinkya Rahane took Sehwag’s place. Harbhajan has been dropped for T20s as well.Squad for Nagpur Test: MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Cheteshwar Pujara, R Ashwin, Ashok Dinda, Pragyan Ojha, Ajinkya Rahane, Piyush Chawla, Ishant Sharma, M Vijay, Parvinder Awana.Squad for T20Is: MS Dhoni (capt &wk), Gautam Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Manoj Tiwary, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Piyush Chawla, Ashok Dinda, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Parvinder AwanaBy Sidharth MongaThis selection should drive home what a bad state Indian cricket is in. Piyush Chawla’s bowling averages over the last three first-class seasons tell you all you need to know about the reserves: 48.33 this season, 40.61 in 2011-12 and 41.04 in 2010-11. He was picked for the Nagpur Test against England despite that. No wonder Harbhajan Singh came back into the side without taking wickets at domestic level. The spin cupboard is bare, and the choice was between Amit Mishra and Chawla. The selectors overlooked Mishra, who at least has better stats than Chawla.There are better options in the fast-bowling department, but they are all injured. Most noteworthy among them are Umesh Yadav, Praveen Kumar and Sreesanth. Parvinder Awana, reputed to be a quick bowler, has had a decent season and looks a good pick with others unavailable. If the pitch in Nagpur is not a raging turner, at least one out of Awana and Ashok Dinda should debut.Ravindra Jadeja’s selection seems driven by numbers alone. His two triple-centuries this season, to go with one in 2011-12, have pushed him ahead of two specialist batsmen, Rohit Sharma and Manoj Tiwary, who have been on the fringes for a long time. It could also be Jadeja’s left-arm spin, something that was supposed to be in Yuvraj Singh’s favour when he jumped the queue. The problem with this selection, on the evidence of what we have seen in international cricket, is that Jadeja is neither a top-six batsman nor a top-four bowler.