Lions left-arm spinner Aaron Phangiso has been reported for an illegal action following his team’s win against Warriors in the semi-finals of the Momentum One Day Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Feb-2016Lions left-arm spinner Aaron Phangiso has been reported for an illegal action following his team’s win against Warriors in the semi-finals of the Momentum One Day Cup on February 25.In accordance with the ICC’s regulations and Law 18 clause 2.25, Phangiso’s action will now have to be tested in “as soon as reasonably possible but, in any event, within 21 days of receipt by the Player’s Home Board of the notice.” He will be tested on Friday at the ICC-accredited High Performance Academy at the University of Pretoria. Fourteen days after that test, an ICC appointed specialist will furnish the body with written report which will determine whether Phangiso’s action is legal or not.Phangiso, who has played 16 ODIs and nine T20Is and has taken a combined tally of 29 wickets for South Africa, is part of their squad for the upcoming World T20 in India. The time frame for his testing means that Phangiso’s performance in the World T20 could be affected. Even if he is tested immediately, the 14-day period for the analysis would only conclude on March 10, after the first round of the tournament begins. Changes to squads are allowed until March 8, which may see South Africa’s selectors look for another back-up spinner to Imran Tahir.When contacted on Thursday morning, South Africa’s convener of selectors, Linda Zondi, was in a meeting and unavailable for immediate comment. It is likely him and his panel will consider another option to Phangiso. Eddie Leie, who has played two T20s for South Africa, could come into contention if he recovers from the hamstring injury which kept him out of the one-day cup semi-final in time.This is the third time this year Phangiso has made headlines. In mid-January it emerged that he had been prevented from boarding an international flight following South Africa’s ODI series win in India because he was drunk and disorderly and CSA had subsequently handed him an unknown sanction. This week, Phangiso had to apologise for being caught on camera pretending to sniff an unknown substance off his leg during South Africa’s T20 against England at the Wanderers. Phangiso was in the dug out and his gesture took place when South Africa were batting. He said it was a lighthearted joke but understood that in a country with a drug problem, it was inappropriate.

Shahid Afridi has stepped down as Pakistan’s T20 captain but has said that he intends to continue playing international cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Apr-20162:31

Match Day – Afridi didn’t have the temperament for captaincy

Shahid Afridi has decided not to retire from T20 internationals following Pakistan’s exit from the World T20, but he has stepped down from captaincy in the format.”Today I wish to inform my fans in Pakistan and all over the world that I am relinquishing the captaincy of the T20 Pakistan team of my own volition,” Afridi said in a statement. “I would also like to inform that InshaAllah I intend to continue playing the game for my country and league cricket etc, and request my fans to keep praying and supporting me as long as I play for Pakistan or for any other league team all over the worldAfter the 2015 World Cup, Afridi, 36, had announced his intention to retire from international cricket following the World T20 in India. Earlier this year, however, he stated he was facing “huge pressure” from family and friends to not do so.Afridi was heavily criticised as a leader following Pakistan’s poor performances in the recent Asia Cup and the World T20. Pakistan’s only victories in eight games across those two tournaments were against UAE, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.Subsequently, a report from the coach Waqar Younis said the players “felt confused with what the captain was telling them to do” The team manager Intikhab Alam said Afridi was an “absolutely clueless” captain.Afridi had succeeded Mohammad Hafeez as T20 captain in September 2014. He won 11 out of 24 matches in that time. His batting and bowling form has also been dipping recently. Over the past 12 months, he has averaged 14.61 with the bat and 34 with the ball. Overall, he has led Pakistan in 43 matches, won 19 and lost 23.

Keaton Jennings became the third Durham batsmen to make two hundreds in the same match and set Durham on course for victory against Somerset

Paul Edwards at Chester-le-Street11-Apr-2016
ScorecardKeaton Jennings became the third Durham batsmen to score two hundreds in the same match•PA Photos

The second day of this match dawned cool and heavily clouded, conditions which were unlikely to buck up Somerset skipper Chris Rogers as he made his way down to breakfast. Still 226 runs in arrears and with both openers having been dismissed on Sunday evening, Rogers knew that his batsmen would have to resist the many skills of Chris Rushworth and Graham Onions if they were to achieve parity on first innings. That task is generally difficult enough, even without the hindrance of seamers’ gloom.So it must have been devilishly irritating to Somerset’s skipper that his team were bowled out for 179, thus conceding a 77-run lead as much because of their own carelessness and misjudgements as the bowlers’ excellence. Also galling, perhaps, was that Somerset subsided as conditions for batting rapidly improved, albeit that the morning shadows were pale, evanescent things when set beside Sunday’s sharp images.Some Somerset bats might have been playing shots at shadows on Monday morning and
by close of play the home side’s lead had been extended to 300 with Keaton Jennings having become the third Durham batsman after Dean Jones and Paul Collingwood to score two hundreds in a first-class match. Jennings, who is newly qualified to play for England but hardly likely to do so very soon, reached his century off 163 balls with a drive through midwicket off Roelof van der Merwe three overs before play ended. It is a remarkable achievement for a player who was dropped for the last six games of the 2015 Championship season having scored just 473 in 20 innings.In contrast to his batting on Sunday, Jennings batted with considerable freedom on the second afternoon of his game. He helped Mark Stoneman put on 74 for the first wicket in just less than 13 overs as Somerset’s new-ball attack fell apart. Jennings then reined in his more aggressive instincts a little as he lost three partners in 49 balls but Collingwood was with him when he reached his century in 38 fewer balls than he had needed on Sunday. The pair’s unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 72 in only 14 overs firmly reminded everyone at a floodlit Riverside where the balance of this match lay.More significantly than any personal achievement, Jennings gives a side a few were tipping for relegation a wonderful chance of beginning their campaign with a victory. By the same reasoning it seems clear at the midpoint of this game that unless Rogers and his batsmen outdo Leonidas and the Greeks in the First Test at Thermopylae, Somerset will begin their season with a defeat. Rogers’ men may, of course, be saved by the weather but they would be deceiving themselves if they thought that a draw currently represented parity.Yet for the first 40 minutes of the day, Rogers and Hildreth had resisted Rushworth and Onions very stoutly, adding 43 runs to the total and only rarely being defeated. Whenever Rogers drove unwisely or played and missed, he jerked his head back in savage self-reproof and took a penitential walk to square leg. Hildreth looked in even less trouble until, as he seems annoyingly prone to do in the thirties, he edged a catch to the slips, Ryan Pringle pouching the chance off Onions. Jim Allenby’s first ball was straight and on a good length; it needed to be hit, not to be played with a hopeful half-stride forward, the pad doing most of the work and the bat alongside, as if in comradely solidarity. The latter, though, was what Allenby attempted and Rob Bailey sent him on his way. 79 for 5.A quarter of an hour later two more wickets fell to consecutive deliveries and the second of them probably marked a pivotal moment in this game. First van der Merwe drove wildly at Onions but only inside edged the ball to Michael Richardson. Then Peter Trego cover-drove his first ball straight to Mark Stoneman in the ring and called Rogers for a single. Stoneman’s throw took out the middle stump with Rogers still stretching for the crease. The Somerset skipper departed for 23 with a glance at his former partner; perhaps he was speculating as to the nature of life on planet Trego. 85 for 7.The rest of the innings sought to staunch a deep wound with sticking plasters. Trego, hardly in the manner of a sinner seeking atonement, made 45 off 57 balls and added 66 for the eighth wicket with Lewis Gregory. But 20-year-old Brydon Carse marked his Championship debut by dismissing two of the last three batsmen and Durham’s 77-run lead already seemed substantial in the context of the game.

Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders are the first teams to meet for the second time this IPL, and Mumbai are the only team to have defeated Knight Riders so far this season

The Preview by Sirish Raghavan27-Apr-2016

Match facts

Thursday, April 28, 2016
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)

Big Picture

Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders have shared the last four IPL titles between them, and their previous matches have served as reminders of why that has been the case. Though Knight Riders had won three of their first four matches, the away win against Rising Pune Supergiants in their fifth match would have been particularly pleasing as it demonstrated that their batting depth can get them out of trouble when Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa fail. Similarly, Mumbai’s win over Kings XI Punjab in Mohali came on the back of a solid top-order showing despite Rohit Sharma’s duck. A strong bowling effort from their pacers made them just the third team – after Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Daredevils – to successfully defend a total this season. As these two star-studded teams begin to harness the depth of their resources, a clash between them is a mouth-watering prospect.They also become the first teams to meet for the second time this season. In their first meeting, at Eden Gardens, Mumbai convincingly gunned down a target of 188. They are the only team to have defeated Knight Riders so far this season. While Knight Riders will be itching to exact revenge, Mumbai will be desperate to win their last match at the Wankhede stadium this season.There is an interesting contrast between Mumbai’s pace-heavy bowling attack – led by Tim Southee, Mitchell McClenaghan and Jasprit Bumrah – and Knight Riders’ spin riches, featuring Sunil Narine, Piyush Chawla and Shakib Al Hasan (with Brad Hogg in the wings). How these markedly different attacks shape up against each other will make for a fascinating sub-plot, with potentially significant implications on the result.

Form guide

Mumbai Indians: WLWLL (most recent matches first)
Kolkata Knight Riders: WWWLW

In the spotlight

Mumbai’s bowling has been driven by Tim Southee’s pace and swing, Mitchell McClenaghan’s aggression and Jasprit Bumrah’s excellent yorkers and variations. To the extent that spin has played a role, Krunal Pandya has shone, combining an economy rate of 6.57 with an average of 30.66. Harbhajan Singh, who is meant to be the lead spinner, has been largely ineffective, with an average of 62.66 and going at 8.54 runs an over. He has played all of Mumbai’s matches so far, but unless he can improve that record, there may be a temptation to look at other spin options.Andre Russell has had a fairly low-key start to the season. He has been expensive with the ball and has had only one innings of substance – a 17-ball 36 against Mumbai – with the bat. Knight Riders already have a wide base of players that are performing but if Russell can hit form as well, that would be a massive boost to the side’s balance and destructive potential.

Team news

Jerome Taylor has been drafted into Mumbai’s squad in place of the injured Lasith Malinga, but is unlikely to break into the XI just yet, considering the fine performances of Mumbai’s pacers. Mumbai might consider giving Corey Anderson a game, perhaps at the expense of the out-of-form Kieron Pollard. Pollard has scored just 71 runs at 17.75 in six innings and leaked 36 runs in three overs on the two occasions he has bowled.Mumbai Indians (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Parthiv Patel (wk), 3 Ambati Rayudu, 4 Jos Buttler, 5 Kieron Pollard/Corey Anderson, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Mitchell McClenaghan, 11 Jasprit BumrahHaving shown their batting depth, Knight Riders might be inclined to stick with the same XI.Kolkata Knight Riders (probable): 1 Gautam Gambhir (capt), 2 Robin Uthappa (wk), 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Shakib Al Hasan, 5 Yusuf Pathan, 6 Andre Russell, 7 R Sathish, 8 Piyush Chawla, 9 Umesh Yadav, 10 Sunil Narine, 11 Morne Morkel

Pitch and conditions

The Wankhede Stadium is generally full of runs. The three matches played here so far have yielded progressively higher first-innings totals, with 170 scored in the last match, on April 20. On all three occasions, the totals have been successfully chased down. The forecast is for a hot day, with temperatures expected to hit 36C, and no rain. Given the success teams chasing have enjoyed, and dew potentially being a factor later in the evening, bowling first would presumably be the way to go.

Stats and trivia

• Mumbai’s average opening stand of 12.14 is the lowest among all teams in this IPL
• Of the eight batsmen with 200-plus runs so far this year, Gambhir has hit the fewest sixes (2). He also has the second-lowest strike rate (123.43) among those batsmen, after Ambati Rayudu (121.91)

Leicestershire’s late assault proved decisive as Yorkshire, so disappointing in the Blast last season, lost heavily in front of only 6,000 at Headingley

ECB Reporters Network27-May-2016
ScorecardBen Raine top-scored for Leicestershire and then took three wickets•Getty Images

Yorkshire Vikings were never in the hunt against Leicestershire Foxes who beat them by 54 runs with eight balls remaining in the NatWest T20 Blast at Headingley.It was a disappointing start to the campaign for Yorkshire, who are desperate to do well in the competition this season under a new young captain in Alex Lees, but who drew only 6,000 to Headingley.Leicestershire could feel delighted with the result after opening with a defeat to Northamptonshire last week.Chasing a 175 victory target, Yorkshire failed to put a substantial stand together in a game which was dominated by Ben Raine and the O’Brien brothers, Kevin and Niall.Raine top-scored with 48 before opening the bowling and capturing 3 for 7 in his 3.4 overs. Niall O’Brien powered his way to 39 while Kevin hit 21 and then took three for 27.Yorkshire lost wickets at regular intervals and openers Adam Lyth and new one-day captain, Alex Lees, were both out inside the first five overs, Lyth driving Raine to mid-off and Lees turning Kevin O’Brien to leg-gully.Only Will Rhodes showed any real form, coming in at 32 for 4 and smacking 45 with three fours and two sixes before departing at 109 for 9 by driving Neil Dexter to Tom Wells at long off, by which time the game was well and truly lost for Yorkshire.A late flurry of sixes had revitalised the Foxes’ innings with 102 coming off the final ten overs. It was off the fourth delivery of the 14th over that Niall O’Brien straight drove Lyth for the first six of the match but another eight were to clear the rope in the remaining overs for Leicestershire to close on a competitive 174 for seven.All four of Niall O’Brian’s boundary shots in his 39 off 21 balls came from six hits while Raine included two fours and two sixes in his 48 from 43 deliveries.But Lewis Hill was responsible for the final flourish with three mid-wicket sixes in the last over from Ben Coad who gave away 22 runs, Hill ending unbeaten on 24 from just nine balls.Yorkshire did not have their best night in the field as three catches were put down, the easiest being when Raine, who had just pulled Adil Rashid for two sixes, survived a simple chance to Liam Plunkett on the mid-wicket boundary.Things began encouragingly for Yorkshire as Tim Bresnan, in his first appearance of the season after being sidelined with a calf muscle tear, started with a wicket maiden, Pettini forcing his fifth ball straight into the hands of Rhodes at point.Bresnan’s new ball partner, James Wainman, also enjoyed an early success on his T20 Blast debut. In Wainman’s second over, Mark Cosgrove, who had struck 20 from 11 balls, was caught at deep square leg by Coad.Bresnan and Plunkett each claimed two wickets but Leicestershire kept battling away and their destructive hitting late on proved to be decisive.

Aaron Finch and Jade Dernbach gave Surrey the edge over a Somerset side whose T20 dreams have turned sour

Will Macpherson08-Jul-2016
ScorecardFile photo: Jade Dernbach had an outstanding night•Getty Images

It was always going to require something inspired for Surrey to defend their Aaron Finch-filled 154. But, through a combination of waspish fielding, fine bowling – with Jade Dernbach to the fore in both disciplines – and canny captaincy, they did just that – by a whopping 15 runs, all but ending Somerset’s hopes of progressing. After a staggering stall in Surrey’s innings after Finch’s fireworks, Somerset – strangled by Surrey – put on a clinic in how not to chase.Dernbach, having taken a wicket in both his early overs and also pulling off a magnificent direct hit to dismiss Jim Allenby, was recalled to the attack by Gareth Batty and entrusted – as he always is – with closing out a tight game with his chicanery and craft. The equation was 33 required from 24 balls, and five Somerset wickets still standing.These last 12 Dernbach deliveries – always just wide enough of line, always just awkward enough of length, and never remotely readable of pace – went for eight, with his last ball deceiving Lewis Gregory, who was caught on the midwicket fence. As Tom Curran – who bowled a brilliant over between Dernbach’s two – stood atop his mark for the innings’s last, the game was won.It was Sam Curran’s tight opening over and Ben Foakes’s outstanding diving catch of Johann Myburgh – off Dernbach’s bowling – that set the tone for Surrey’s excellent defence. Against the new ball, Mahela Jayawardene was in sublime form, flicking beautifully to leg and placing perfectly on the offside but, after Dernbach bowled Peter Trego, he fell to Batty’s first ball.Batty quickly identified that, with 63 scored from the first six overs, the spin of he and Zafar Ansari would be vital. Both finished with figures of 1 for 20, with Ansari’s wicket also vital, Roloef van der Merwe bowled slogging. With the wind sucked from Somerset’s sails – although Alex Barrow and Gregory shared a chancy 43 to give them hope, Batty turned to Dernbach and his protege, the older Curran.If Dernbach sealed the deal, it was Finch who set Surrey’s win up. South London on a Friday night is as close to the Twenty20 Finch knows as England can offer. Before a roisterous sellout crowd of 25,500 – there were, as now seems mandatory, variations of “Will Grigg’s On Fire”, and the Iceland slowclap – Finch began the night in ominously ravenous form.By the time Surrey had 50, for the loss of just Jason Roy, who bunted Josh Davey to mid-off, Finch had 44. There was a cut four, before Lewis Gregory was pulled for six, lustily pumped through cover for four, then flicked to cow for six more. Jamie Overton was the victim of another violent triptych: a sensual six towards long-on, a beastly cover drive, and a finessed guide to third man.Yet when he went, a couple of balls after reaching 50, bowled off the pad by Max Waller – who Finch admitted on TV after that he had never seen bowl, Surrey lost their way horribly. There were all the hallmarks of the grim stall: a 12-over wait for a boundary (Tom Curran and Ben Foakes scrambled one each late on), and there were no more sixes; there were two run outs, with Rory Burns’s so farcical that the third umpire was required to decide whether he or Dom Sibley should go. Sibley failed to kick on, adding five to his score before slapping to long-on, Chris Morris top edged to be caught and bowled, while Zafar Ansari pulled straight to the man in the deep.In the Curran brothers, on the day they were called up by England Lions, Surrey found a pair of patient, dinky accumulators, who ensured their innings went the distance. Sam, productive to third man, was run out cleverly by the leaping wicketkeeper Barrow going for a silly second, while Tom lost Foakes to a brilliant catch at backward square-leg from Peter Trego in the final over.It should never have been enough, but Dernbach – after a lengthy spell on the sidelines – is back. The nature of his job often make his failures memorable, but there remain few better at closing out a game. At 30, and having seen – not to mention copped – plenty, he is now a wily old operator with more to give than most acknowledge. Somerset had no answer.

The BCCI has convened an emergent working committee meeting on August 2 in Mumbai, ahead of its special AGM on August 5 in New Delhi

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jul-2016The BCCI has convened an emergent working committee meeting on August 2 in Mumbai, ahead of its special AGM on August 5 in New Delhi. The meeting will focus on the Supreme Court’s order to implement the Lodha Committee recommendations and the proposed T20I series between West Indies and India in the USA next month. The notice for the working committee meeting was reportedly sent on Saturday.”A working committee meeting has been convened in Mumbai on August 2 to discuss the Supreme Court verdict on Justice Lodha Committee’s reforms in the board,” BCCI sources told . “It will also discuss the two-match T20 series between India and West Indies proposed to be held in Florida, USA after the conclusion of the current tour of West Indies by the Indian team.”Asked whether everything had been finalised about the short T20 series, the sources told , “more or less”.The BCCI had earlier announced a special general meeting in August 5 in New Delhi to discuss the recommendations, which were approved by the Supreme Court on July 18. BCCI president Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke are also scheduled to meet with the Lodha Committee in Delhi on August 9, although a board official had told ESPNcricinfo that a date had not yet been fixed.The meetings come after the BCCI was given between four and six months by the Supreme Court to implement the Lodha panel’s recommendations, which cover wide-ranging aspects of Indian cricket at the central and state level. RM Lodha, the former chief justice of India who was the architect of the report, has been directed to oversee the transition.The other agenda before the working committee is the proposed series in Florida, and a source with knowledge of negotiations between the BCCI and the WICB told ESPNcricinfo that the series was “98% on”. The 2% hold-up on finalising the August series is based on multiple factors, including the visa status of the players. However, multiple sources have confirmed that the BCCI has already submitted names, photographs and documents for their intended T20 squad to the US Embassy in Jamaica, where the second Test started on Saturday.

West Indies captain Carlos Brathwaite said that the support of senior players was a major factor in achieving victory on his captaincy debut

Peter Della Penna28-Aug-2016West Indies captain Carlos Brathwaite said the support given to him by senior players was a major factor in achieving victory on his captaincy debut. No one was more pivotal than allrounder Dwayne Bravo, whose nerveless final over clinched a one-run win over India in a run fest at the Central Broward Regional Park in Florida.”I just want to publicly say thanks to all the senior guys for the help and support they give me on the field throughout the 20 overs,” Brathwaite said after the win. “Everyone always has suggestions and it kind of eased my role as captain, as a new captain as well, to have such maturity and such experience on the field always lending a helping hand.”Before the final ball, we were just fiddling with fields and wondering if to double-bluff or just try to stop the two. So Bravo finally decided and I asked him, ‘What’s your plan?’ He said, ‘A slower ball.’ I didn’t believe he’d bowl a slower ball but I told him, ‘I’m backing you. Execute. Express yourself.’ I know he came out trumps for us once again and for how many ever years he’s been doing it in T20 cricket for West Indies, once again he bowled a champion over, stuck to his guns and bowled a very, very top last delivery to one of the best finishers in world cricket.”Outside of the final over, Brathwaite said the game as a whole was one of the most memorable T20 affairs he’d been a part of, made even more special by the fact that it ended with a victory, in his first match leading the side.”It’s a relief. I always wanted to get that first one, that first win as captain,” Brathwaite said. “I know it was a fantastic team effort by the boys. I think that was one of the better T20 games I’ve ever been a part of and it was a fantastic spectacle and I’m just happy that my first game could be memorable but most importantly that we came out on top.”Brathwaite was playing in the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill for the first time, having been with the West Indies Test squad throughout the four-Test series earlier in India’s tour. But with the exception of Brathwaite and Marlon Samuels, the other nine members of the West Indies XI on Saturday had all recently played at the stadium last month, when the Caribbean Premier League held a six-match leg at the facility, while Samuels had also played for West Indies at the ground in 2012.The West Indies squad’s familiarity with the nuances of the venue proved vital at the start of the match, in particular for Evin Lewis and Johnson Charles. One aspect of the ground is the deceptive wind patterns. From field level, the breeze is only faintly detectable. However, standing at the top of the grandstand one will notice the jet stream that cuts through the roof of the stands and blows from elevation northwest above the ground. All that’s required is to get underneath the ball and mother nature does most of the work carrying it over the ropes for six.Charles utilised this jet stream to score brisk half-centuries for St Lucia Zouks against Jamaica Tallawahs in both innings he played at the venue last month while Lewis made 79 for St Kitts & Nevis Patriots against Trinbago Knight Riders. On Saturday, West Indies reached 164 for 1 after 11 overs, and 109 of those runs came in the six overs batting from the Pavilion End, hitting with the jet stream.The last over in that stretch was Lewis’ 32-run 11th over which began with five sixes off Stuart Binny. In all, 16 of the record 21 sixes hit by West Indies on the day came batting from the Pavilion End, making a mockery of the 73-yard boundary measured off by groundsman Mark Perham. Conversely, India only scored 62 runs from their first six overs batting from the Pavilion End.Lewis, who was Man of the Match for his maiden hundred in just his second T20I for West Indies, said afterward that having the experience of playing in the ground recently as part of the CPL was a definite advantage over India at the start of the game.”It had a big impact obviously,” Lewis said. “I played two games on the wicket. Kudos to the groundsman. He’s been doing an extremely good job. I just went out there and backed myself, hit the balls in my scoring areas and put them away.”

Alastair Cook has dismissed allegations of ball tampering against his England side as “a load of rubbish”, adding his voice to Pakistan’s dismissive response

George Dobell10-Aug-20161:48

Dobell: Ball-tampering story regrettable

Alastair Cook has dismissed allegations of ball tampering against his England side as “a load of rubbish.”England’s seamers used reverse swing to cut through the Pakistan batting on the final day of the Edgbaston Test, claiming, at one stage, four wickets for one run. It left England leading the four-match series 2-1 with only the Oval Test left to play.Some news organisations in Pakistan have subsequently broadcast footage of England in the field at Edgbaston and suggested that they tampered with the ball in order to gain reverse swing.Although that footage, particularly footage showing Joe Root vigorously shining the ball, looked innocuous and the Pakistan camp have dismissed the allegations, the story has rumbled on for a couple of days.”It’s a load of rubbish,” Cook replied when asked about the allegations. “Someone showed me the clip on Twitter of Rooty shining the ball. It’s just shining the ball, isn’t it?”Let’s be honest. It’s shining the shiny side of the ball on his trousers. It’s an absolute load of rubbish as far as I’m concerned. It’s so far-fetched that it’s just nonsense. I don’t think it will affect anyone, it certainly hasn’t affected our changing room.”Cook also expressed disappointment that the story might overshadow what has been, until now, a good quality series played in fine spirit between two well-matched sides. While previous encounters between the sides have been tainted by various controversies – not least when some in the British media made similar allegations against Pakistan players – this one has been notably free of such issues.”We’ve been talking about cricket for three Test matches – for the first time in a series I’ve played against Pakistan,” Cook said. “And hopefully we’ll be talking about the cricket – good or bad – at the end of this next game.”It’s a little sideshow and hopefully it stays there. Both sides should be commended for the way they’ve played so far.”Mickey Arthur, the Pakistan coach, confirmed that there had been no complaints from his team to the match officials at the time or subsequently and Misbah-ul-Haq also played down the allegations. Indeed, the Pakistan captain suggested his bowlers could learn from the way in which England cared for the ball.”We don’t just want to get into those things,” he said. “The game is over and credit should be given to the England team for the way they bowled and got us out.Alastair Cook praised the spirit in which the series has been played•Getty Images

“That was a super spell by all their bowlers, especially after lunch. That happened, it’s gone and we have to focus on the coming game. We should have played better.”Reverse happens and sometimes on the last day it happens because the pitch is so dry. There are right ways to roughen the ball. You bowl cross seam, throw the ball from the boundary on the ground, you shine it from one end and these are legal ways to roughen the ball. You care for the ball and the team which does better it achieves reverse swing. This is an art, a science and whole time you have to care for the ball.”We have to carefully look at it so that our bowlers can also achieve that. We have to take care of the ball and these days one or two bowlers bowl cross seam so that you hit one side of the ball on the pitch, we have to do that.”England bowlers are experienced like Anderson and Broad and know how to utilize that, they know the conditions. Our seam bowlers have played less cricket so they have to learn that and care for the ball. We have to gain that experience and concentrate on that.”We were a little bit concerned, the way it just happened just after the lunch, because it was not doing anything until the fourth day and suddenly it started. But obviously the fifth day is different and it could happen. The umpires are there, the match referees are there and I am not there to check those things.”I think they are very good bowlers and a very good side. Especially Anderson and Broad. These bowlers know what to do especially how to take care of the ball day, how to reverse it specially. There was concern the way it just swung in that hour, but we are not taking anything ahead of that.”The on-field umpires check the condition of the ball at the end of each over and when a wicket falls. The TV umpire can also advice on the basis of what they see on their screens. The ICC have confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that no complaints were made by the umpires and that there is no on-going investigation.

In the end, the spectre of relegation did not materialise for either team, even though the heaviest defeat of their season in terms of runs left Lancashire sweating for a few hours

Jon Culley at Edgbaston23-Sep-2016
ScorecardJeetan Patel helped finish off Lancashire’s second innings•Getty Images

In the end, the spectre of relegation did not materialise for either team, even though the heaviest defeat of their season in terms of runs left Lancashire sweating for a few hours on the outcome of Hampshire’s escape bid in Southampton.Warwickshire knew they were safe at lunchtime in effect, with all three of the batsmen they had identified as most likely to deny them the win safely seen off. Lancashire were 72 for 6, having lost Haseeb Hameed, Steven Croft and Liam Livingstone in the morning session and the handshakes of congratulation exchanged between the Warwickshire players as they left the field did not seem premature.Indeed, within 50 minutes of coming out again the match was over. Lancashire did their utmost to resist, nightwatchman Simon Kerrigan manfully extending his duties to two hours and 22 minutes before he was at last winkled out by Jeetan Patel.Patel took three wickets to finish the season with 69 in the Championship, reaffirming his status as the most consistently effective spin bowler in the competition. Rikki Clarke, willingly bending his back as if he were 24 rather than 34, claimed four and Chris Wright, who has finished the summer looking rejuvenated, a couple. Their combined weight of knowledge, their ability to deliver when it matters was always likely to be too much for a Lancashire side at the other end of the spectrum in terms of experience. And so it proved.After winning a trophy at Lord’s last weekend, it has been a good week for Warwickshire. Yet no one is pretending there are not major issues to address after a season that they began with expectations – among pundits at least – that they would be pushing for the title.”It is satisfying in that the way we bowled and fielded in the first innings was exceptional, we then backed it up with the bat in the second innings and pressed home the advantage with the ball,” Warwickshire’s director of cricket Dougie Brown said.”We knew we had to play 12 good sessions and not lose our way as we have done in some games and we did that. But it is frustrating that we have left it to the last game of the season to play one of our best games.”Is everything rosy after winning a trophy? No. Because we don’t want to be fighting to stay in the division, we want to be competing for silverware on all fronts.”So we will reviewing the season as players and as a management team, looking at what we need to do.”We think we know what the conclusions will be but we need to get to the bits that are important and just make sure we have a focus during the next few weeks and months, so that we are champing at the bit at the start of next season.”Brown admits that the challenge he faces is to rejuvenate the team while still making the most of what Patel, Clarke, Wright and Keith Barker can still deliver with the ball, likewise Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott and others with the bat.”Refreshing the squad is difficult,” he said. “You are always faced with trading off performance against potential performance down the line. We know the age profile of the team is not going south, it’s going north.”But you can’t argue with the fact that Jeetan is top of the MVP ratings and Keith and Rikki are in the top 10. It would be madness to say that because these guys are older players you just cut them.”Injuries have not helped. Mark Adair would have played a lot more but he has a stress fracture in his back, as would Aaron Thomason, an extremely talented all-rounder, but he has a stress fracture in his back as well.”Bell’s season could have been better, but allowance has to be made for the refocusing he has had to make after slipping off England’s radar for the first time in more than a decade. What’s more his appetite to play on is undiminished.”It has been an adjustment for me,” he said. “The style of cricket and the amount of cricket has been different. The style of bowling is different, facing guys I have not faced before.”It has been a challenge. But I will learn from the experiences and I still want to improve. My desire is still to play for England but putting on a Warwickshire shirt means as much to me.”It does not work for everybody but I see Trescothick playing for Somerset at 40 with the same desire, likewise Paul Collingwood up at Durham and I want to go on as long as I can and win trophies.”For Ashley Giles, the previous occupant of Brown’s position and now Lancashire’s guiding force, emotions were mixed. The possibility of going down has been hard to take but he sees plenty of cause for optimism.”We have been beaten by the side, one with a wealth of experience, but you don’t like losing. It hurts,” he said. “Not winning more games has cost us, and we’ve only got ourselves to blame. Overall, if you don’t win games of cricket, you’re going to be behind the eight-ball.”There’s obviously been factors that will be pointed in my direction, such as not replacing Neil Wagner, although there were not a lot of available options. But Alviro Petersen going, we couldn’t do much about.”I will say at the same time that we’ve been able to blood some really good youngsters and we’ve seen some really good performances. I know it sounds like I’m looking for positives, but you can’t question the way Haseeb has come on, how Livingstone has come on and Rob Jones and Tom Bailey too. At the moment, we all feel pretty crap. But time’s a healer.”We outperformed expectations up front, and suddenly everyone’s going ‘we’re going to win the Championship’. That’s why I started the season saying ‘we need to stay up’. I didn’t mean that negatively. It’s because of where we are and we knew in reality it would be a struggle.”But I knew that if we consolidated our position in Division One, we’d be better for it next year. And I stand by that.”