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Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman have been found to be in positions of conflict of interest for their roles as commentator and the positions they hold in Indian cricket. That is the ruling of the BCCI’s ethics officer Justice (Retd) DK Jain, who has given them two weeks to choose between the two roles.Justice Jain was reviewing complaints filed by members of the public against Ganguly and Laxman. Another complaint, against Sachin Tendulkar, alleged a conflict between his roles as mentor of Mumbai Indians in the IPL and as a member of the BCCI’s Cricket Advisory Committee. However, during the hearing of the case, Tendulkar submitted that he had decided not to be part of any BCCI committee, and had informed the board about it. Following this disclosure, Justice Jain ruled there was no issue of conflict and no need to investigate further.In the case of Ganguly and Laxman, having heard both the complainants as well as the former players in person, and upon studying the BCCI’s constitution, Justice Jain concluded that the two men could hold only one post at any given point of time. “That is the spirit of the constitution, the concept of one man one post,” Justice Jain told ESPNcricinfo. “And they are holding more than one post… therefore there is a conflict of interest as defined under the constitution.”Ganguly and Laxman were deemed to have breached Rule 38 (4) of the BCCI constitution, which states that a person cannot hold two positions at the same point out of 16 listed. The clause says: “It is clarified that no individual is allowed to occupy more than one of the following posts at a single point of time except where prescribed under these rules.”The 16 positions are: Player (current), selector/member of cricket committee, team official, commentator, match official, administrator/office bearer, electoral officer, ombudsman & ethics officer, auditor, any person who is governance, management or employee of a franchisee, member of a standing committee, CEO & managers, office Bearer of a Member (state association), service provider (legal, financial etc.), contractual entity (broadcast, security, contractor etc.) and owner of cricket academy.Ganguly is the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal, advisor at Delhi Capitals in the IPL, and also a TV commentator. Laxman is a mentor at Sunrisers Hyderabad and a TV commentator.”I have only interpreted provisions of the rule which were framed pursuant to adoption of the constitution after the Lodha Commission’s recommendations (were accepted by the court),” Justice Jain said.He said that both Ganguly and Laxman can challenge the order and take it up with the BCCI. It is understood that the BCCI’s legal team is studying the order.If either or both Ganguly and Laxman carry on performing both roles, Justice Jain said it was for the BCCI to take a call on the path forward. “It is the job of the BCCI to first interpret and then enforce constitution and the rules. They are also bound. They are also the creature of the constitution,” he said.

Adil Rashid, England’s World Cup-winning legspinner, has been ruled out for the rest of the season as his shoulder injury continues to plague him.Rashid’s shoulder injury was first made public when England’s World Cup squad was announced, and was cited as a reason for the inclusion of Liam Dawson over Joe Denly.It was not sufficiently serious that it caused him to miss any World Cup games, but Rashid revealed that he had needed an injection to manage the pain, and said that bowling his variations in particular had hurt.He declared himself “100% fit” after the group stages, but after a brief period of rest, told Yorkshire’s medical staff that the injury was “the worst it has been this summer”, and withdrew from their Vitality Blast squads.Rashid will undergo a period of rehabilitation, and hopes to bit fully fit in time for England’s T20I series in New Zealand in November.An ECB spokesman said that Rashid was suffering from “chronic pain” and added: “We believe intense rehabilitation and rest will be sufficient over the next six to seven weeks. He might need further treatment ahead of the winter if this persists. That will be decided in due course.””The aim was to come back after the World Cup and play for Yorkshire,” Rashid said. “I enjoy playing for Yorkshire, but it just wasn’t meant to be. I’ve had a shoulder problem for a little while and I got through the World Cup with an injection. Obviously, as time has gone on the injection has worn out and, after the World Cup, I started feeling a bit of a pinch in my shoulder.”These things can happen and fortunately it hasn’t happened to me earlier than it has. I’ve played 13-14 years of professional cricket and this is the first time I’ve suffered an injury to my shoulder.”I’m very confident, after being ruled out for the rest of the season, that I can get myself fully fit before we go away in the winter. I’ve got two months now to get myself fully fit and it’s as simple as that.”Rashid’s withdrawal from Yorkshire’s squads caused eyebrows to be raised, with his contract up at the end of the season, and director of cricket Martyn Moxon telling the there was “no guarantee” Rashid would play red-ball cricket for the club this season. He had opted out of first-class cricket last year, only to change his mind after being recalled to England’s Test squad.Yorkshire have subsequently re-signed South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj as cover, who will be available for the rest of the Blast, as well as Championship games against Nottinghamshire and Somerset.But Rashid quashed any idea that he might not be motivated to turn out for the county. “When I can play, I’ll play,” he said. “I just wasn’t anywhere near fit enough to play. People may have other views, but I just can’t play. Any other talk is nonsense. I enjoy playing cricket and enjoy playing for Yorkshire, but this year it wasn’t possible with how the shoulder was.”

England’s Michael Gough and West Indies’ Joel Wilson have been promoted to the ICC’s elite panel for umpires for 2019-20, while India’s S Ravi has been omitted from the list. Gough and Wilson, who officiated in the recent World Cup, have replaced Ravi and Ian Gould, who retired from umpiring during the World Cup, on the panel. The ICC’s elite panel of match referees is unchanged.The pair were promoted from the ICC’s international panel of umpires by a selection committee that comprised Geoff Allardice, ICC general manager (cricket), commentator and former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar and ICC match referees Ranjan Madugalle and David Boon.Gough, a former Durham and England A batsman, made his international debut as an umpire in a T20I in August 2013, and officiated in a Test for the first time in July 2016. He has so far stood in nine Tests, 59 ODIs and 14 T20Is. Wilson began his international career as an umpire during India’s tour of West Indies in June 2011 and has since then umpired in 13 Test matches, 63 ODIs, 26 T20Is.The ICC would not give a specific reason behind Ravi’s omission, but its spokesperson said the assessment of umpires is a continuous process and the new Elite Panel is the result of that.Internally the ICC monitors the umpire’s standing through a rigorous performance review, which comprises various parameters, including on-field decision making, the number of reviews the match official has got right, and conduct on the field. Accordingly, points are tallied and umpires are ranked internally.Ravi’s performance has come under the scanner on more than one occasion. On England’s tour of Sri Lanka last year, he failed to signal several no-balls that television replays revealed were wrong. During the IPL, he failed to notice Lasith Malinga overstepping the crease on the final delivery of match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians. Virat Kohli, the Royal Challengers’ captain called Ravi’s error “ridiculous” while Mumbai captain Rohit Sharma said such mistakes cannot afford to happen in any form of cricket.Ravi is not the first umpire to be omitted from the Elite Panel following a performance review. In 2013, the ICC dropped Pakistan’s Asad Rauf and New Zealand’s Billy Bowden from the Elite Panel. In 2011, Asoka de Silva and Daryl Harper were also demoted.”Being an elite official is an extremely challenging job,” Adrian Griffith, the ICC senior manager of umpires and referees, said. “Every decision is scrutinised by millions of fans and each match official is subject to rigorous ongoing performance assessments throughout the year.”We are fortunate to have some fantastic officials who are able to withstand the pressures of the job and deliver consistently on the international stage. Michael and Joel are deserving additions to the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Umpires and I wish them all the best for the coming season and for the future.”ICC Elite Panel of Match referees: David Boon, Chris Broad, Jeff Crowe, Ranjan Madugalle, Andy Pycroft, Richie Richardson and Javagal SrinathICC Elite Panel of Umpires: Aleem Dar, Kumar Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nigel Llong, Bruce Oxenford, Paul Reiffel, Rod Tucker, Michael Gough and Joel Wilson

Australia’s coach Justin Langer wore a rueful look on his face as his players lifted the urn at The Oval, having lost to England by some distance in the final Test and so failed to win the series. Having set out upon a gruelling twin tour of the UK for the World Cup and the Ashes, he witnessed a pair of strong and successful campaigns without either fully satisfying.With the benefit of a few moments’ reflection, Langer reckoned that while there had been great improvement in the Australian team over his 16 months in charge so far, there would need to be a greater level of ruthlessness if they are to graduate from World Cup semi-finalists and Ashes retainers to consistent series and tournament winners.”It’s something we’re getting better at, how we back up after a win,” Langer said in reference to how the Edgbaston and Old Trafford victories had been followed by a draw at Lord’s and defeat at The Oval. “That probably comes with the maturity of the group as well. It’s ok to fight back when you are underdogs and it’s one of those Australian things – we love the underdog tag. To fight back from a tough loss is admirable and I said how proud I was with everyone for that.”But also over the last couple of years we haven’t necessarily performed at our best after a win. Really good teams do that. We didn’t do that too well after the first Test at Lord’s. We didn’t do it after this Test. There have been some Test series over the last couple of years where the team hasn’t been able to. I think that’ll be part of the maturity of our side. If you probably think about it, the way we were in this series, we aren’t a great team yet.”We are a good team, we are a maturing team. We have got some great players in it. But we’re aspiring to be a great cricket team. You got to work hard and get consistent results to achieve that. That comes from experience and learning how to win. That comes with players individually getting more experienced and the team working together. Those sort of things evolve I think. I think back to the start of my career, in 1993, we had some senior players but we didn’t necessarily win all the time. And that we learnt to do through Steve Waugh’s era. We learnt to be ruthless but we also had seven or eight great players and a number of very good players and a couple of good ones like me. But that takes time to develop and evolve.”Getty Images

Something that Langer will have to balance coming home from England will be how the Test team will have perhaps three spots settled in the batting line-up for the home summer, but also how to pick David Warner back up after he was thoroughly beaten by Stuart Broad across this series. Warner was not alone as a struggling left-hand batsman at the top of the order, but he is the one player in that group who possesses a career record suggesting that it was a temporary problem rather than a defining one.”I think, talking frankly, he let Stuart Broad get into his head and he thought way too much about it,” Langer said. “I’ve seen it before, even with the great players, every now and then they have a series – and I’m talking about the all-time great players – they have a series where…I remember Gilly (Adam Gilchrist) with Andrew Flintoff, I remember seeing Steve Waugh sit on the team bus in South Africa and the guy had been a run machine for so long, he got out just before stumps and I, in a sick sort of way, thought it was the best thing I’d ever seen.”I didn’t think great players had lean runs. I used to have lean runs all the time but even great players have lean runs and I’m sure David – we know he’s a very good player, there’s no question about that – but he had it tough, particularly against Stuart Broad. I used to have it against Murali (Muttiah Muralitharan) and I couldn’t solve the issue and it’s so hard when you try to problem solve and then you’re in the middle of a big series trying to solve the puzzle.”In this instance I don’t think David solved the puzzle, and he’ll be first to admit that, he’ll probably be very relieved he gets on the Qantas flight in a day’s time and doesn’t have to face Stuart Broad for a while I reckon. But he is certainly, there’s plenty of upside still to his batting. I’ve learned over a long period you never write off champion players, it doesn’t matter what sport, you never write off champion players. They tend to come good, don’t they? So he’s had a tough series, no doubt about that, but he’s also a champion player so usually with champion players they get a bit more time to come good.”Langer was gratified by the displays of Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon, while also appreciating how Matthew Wade had battled his way through the trials of the series to notch a pair of book-ending centuries. “We cut to the chase, I thought our bowling throughout this series was absolutely world-class. I think we talked throughout about the maturity and healthy group of fast bowlers that we were able to have on the park,” he said. “The bowlers were brilliant. Nathan Lyon as well and the way they all stepped up at different times.Getty Images

“But we didn’t bat well enough. I said this at the start of the series that the team that bats well will win the series. I said it consistently enough and we didn’t bat well enough. That’s the truth. I mean Steve Smith was obviously outstanding. What a pleasure to watch. He’s a brilliant young man but what a pleasure to watch him bat. I thought the development of Marnus was exciting. He worked so hard. He’s a bit in the Steve Smith mould of the players that you love to see do well. He worked so hard.”The way Matthew Wade scored two centuries in this series, obviously including today. We talked about him knocking so hard to get an opportunity. He did that and then to back up with two Test centuries in an Ashes series showed great fight and great skill. I loved Matthew Wade’s footwork. But we certainly fell short in other areas and we need to work on that.”In addition to ruthlessness, Langer had a simple goal based on what he had seen in England in 2019 – find a batting line-up that will better capitalise on the current riches in Australia’s bowling stocks. “With this exciting fast bowling group we’ve got, if we start batting well we’ll win a lot of games of cricket,” he said. “We go to Australia to play two pink ball Test matches, against two good sides in Pakistan and New Zealand, two day-night Test matches will be exciting.”There’s a real challenge for young Australian batters, the ones who want to step up and score lots of runs and work hard on their footwork patterns and techniques and ability to score runs it’s a pretty exciting time. That’s a big challenge.”

Misbah-ul-Haq cited deficiencies in practically all departments of the Pakistan T20I outfit following their back-to-back defeats to a second-string Sri Lanka side in Lahore, but defended the decision to bring back Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal.Over the last two years, Pakistan have won 21 of out the 28 T20Is and lost seven, five of which have come in the last nine months. “Losing is never good, especially against a team that is without their major players, and it’s an eye-opener,” Misbah, the team’s head coach and chief selector, said in the post-match press conference. “We can see deficiency in every department: bowling, batting and particularly the way we got out against spin, and also our death bowling.”There was a clear difference between the two teams. Despite being inexperienced, they were disciplined and did everything right, while we completely failed to implement our plan.”ALSO READ: T20I cricket comes to Lahore, but it’s not the same Pakistan as on TVWith Shehzad and Umar coming back, Pakistan experimented with their top order, dropping Fakhar Zaman for the first T20I and opening with Babar Azam and Shehzad, and Umar at No. 3. The three, however, fell within 4.2 overs, leaving Pakistan reeling at 22 for 3 in the 165-run chase, which they eventually lost by 64 runs. Fakhar came back as an opener for the second T20I, pushing Shehzad to No. 3 and Umar to No. 5. Their highest run-scorer of the first T20I, Ifthikar Ahmed, was left out altogether. This experiment failed too, with Pakistan losing their top five for 52 in a chase of 182 before they went on to lose by 35 runs.Since his debut in September 2016, Babar – the No. 1 T20I batsman – has scored 1263 runs in 32 innings at a stellar average of 50.52 and a strike rate of 127.96, and nearly 70% of his 831 runs in the last two years have come in wins. Babar and Fakhar’s opening partnership has also been pivotal for Pakistan’s success, but Babar’s failure at the top in the two T20Is against Sri Lanka has left Pakistan in a fix, exposing the top order’s struggle especially during a chase.”There are a lot of reasons for this experimentation,” Misbah said. “Yes, we are the No. 1 team in the world but mostly our strength has been standing on Babar Azam scoring runs and with him not scoring in two games, we are exposed badly. We need to find out six or more match-winners, we need to have more dependable batsmen, we need powerhouses in the top and middle, and in bowling we need to take wickets upfront and in the death overs and we need to have good finishers.”But we failed overall, we are struggling in every department, and it’s a big eye-opener for us. We didn’t play to our strengths and couldn’t deliver. We are looking for more batsmen rather than just relying on one or two.”The recalls of Shehzad and Umar had come in for criticism from various sections – Shehzad has scored 4 and 13 in the two games, while Umar has been dismissed for golden ducks both times – but Misbah stood by the decision to recall them and stressed on the need to experiment.”Both these players have performed well wherever they’ve played in the last one year. Ahmed’s performance in PSL was remarkable enough for a chance, while Umar, whichever format he played, was among the good ones [batsmen],” Misbah said. “It’s unfortunate [that] in our circuit, there is no other batsman in T20s who had performed better than them. Players who have performed in domestic surely deserve a chance, and that’s why we offered them.”If they weren’t able to perform what can be done? Obviously I am answerable, but to build up a team you need to do some experiments to get the answers. When you play someone in international cricket with a couple of games, you understand the utility of a player. We need to show some patience and wait for the next series to find answers.”

Lockie Ferguson says that international cricket has had an “awesome year with fast bowlers”, and that he hopes to “bring a little bit of anxiety” to England and Australia’s batsmen after being named in New Zealand’s squads for their upcoming Tests against those opponents.Ferguson is in line for a Test debut, having exclusively played white-ball cricket in his international career to date, but has an impressive first-class record, with 153 wickets at an average of just 24.30 in his 42 games in the format.ALSO READ: Ferguson in line for Test chance amid packed schedule“[I’ve] been very much focused on white-ball [cricket] for the last year,” he admitted. “I think I played three first-class games – a couple against India A – last summer, and then obviously not a lot over the winter we just had.”I’ve played a lot of red-ball cricket for Auckland and some ‘A’ games as well, so I understand what it takes to be a fast bowler at that level, and you can’t always go at 100 percent like you can in one-day and T20 – you have to pick and choose when to bowl quick spells, and that’s all part of the learning process.”[Test cricket] is definitely going to be a new challenge. Obviously like in other formats, it’s a step up from domestic level, and fortunately I’ve played quite a lot of these players before at that level, so it’s not completely new. But the red ball is a whole new different beast, and it’s the longer form both mentally and physically, so it’s going to be a challenge.”Ferguson faces a tough challenge to break into New Zealand’s side. Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner have formed an impressive seam-bowling trio over the past five years, and since November 2017, they have played as a triumvirate in all but one of New Zealand’s home Tests.But head coach Gary Stead has hinted at rotation over the next five Tests, given New Zealand’s punishing upcoming schedule, meaning that there should be opportunities for Ferguson and Matt Henry at some stage.”We’ve got three internationally-recognised, world-class bowlers who have been doing an exceptional job for us, and put us [at] No. 2 in the Test rankings,” Ferguson said. “That’s fantastic, and it’s awesome to be in and around, and learning off those guys as well – it’s just nice to rub shoulders with them.”It’s going to be a tough team to break into, but there’s obviously a lot of Test cricket coming up.”Lockie Ferguson at his point of release•NurPhoto/Getty Images

Ferguson was the second leading wicket-taker at the World Cup this year, and said that international cricket has had a great year as far as fast bowling is concerned.”I think international cricket has had quite an awesome year with fast bowlers,” he said. “I know at the World Cup, earlier on perhaps they were talking about spinners being the real threat, and it was exciting for me as part of the fast-bowling fraternity to see fast bowlers at the top of [the wicket-taking] list.”I don’t think it changes at all for Test cricket: fast bowlers are going to cause problems and create a threat for batters just from pure pace. At the same time, you have to be accurate, and I guess personally that’s one thing I’ve worked on for a long time – bowling quick, but making sure that I’m putting it where I want to put it.”Ferguson admitted that if he does play, his role – as New Zealand’s fastest bowler – will involve trying “to bring a little bit of anxiety” to England’s batsmen, but added that raw pace was part and parcel of playing at the top level.”England obviously have some quick bowlers too with Jofra Archer in their line-up, and it does the same thing to both teams,” he said. “That’s probably the most exciting part about Test cricket – there’s no limit on overs, so you know you’re probably going to face [opposing quicks] at some point in time.”The first Test against England will be played at Mount Maunganui, which will be the inaugural Test at the ground, and Ferguson suggested that the wicket should be good for batting, though may offer some variable bounce.”I haven’t played there in a few years,” he said, “[but] my flat-mate Henry Cooper is an ND [Northern Districts] boy, and said that it’s not a bad batting track but it does go up and down a little bit. It’s hard to tell at this stage – every wicket you play on in New Zealand can be different, so I’m sure we’ll be turning up and assessing the conditions when we’re faced with them.”

Shamarh Brooks’ maiden Test century and Rahkeem Cornwall’s match haul of ten wickets took West Indies to the doorstep of victory by the end of day two of the one-off Test in Lucknow.After starting the day on 68 for 2, West Indies were bowled out for 277, with Brooks’ 111 giving them a lead of 90. The only bright spot for Afghanistan was debutant Amir Hamza, who ended with figures of 5 for 74. Then, just like in their first innings, the hosts squandered another good start and were stuttering at 109 for 7 at stumps, just 19 runs in front.Javed Ahmadi and Ibrahim Zadran gave Afghanistan a 53-run start. While both batsmen looked resolute in their approach, Ahmadi was helped by a slice of luck as well when he was caught at leg slip but replays showed Cornwall had overstepped.However, an error in judgement from Zadran brought an end to the stand as the batsman offered no shot to a Cornwall offbreak and was given lbw. That was followed by a horrendous mix-up between Ahmadi and Ihsanullah, resulting in the latter being run out.Cornwall then dealt two big blows, dismissing Rahmat Shah and Asghar Afghan in identical manner. Both of them got inside edges on to their pads, and Brooks pouched the chances at short leg. Having picked up 7 for 75 in the first innings, the offspinner finished the day with a match haul of 10 for 116.Ahmadi brought up his fifty in the company of Nasir Jamal, and took Afghanistan to 96 for 5, but three quick strikes from Roston Chase under the floodlights dented them further. Jamal played down the wrong line and was bowled, while Hamza, the nightwatchman, and Ahmadi were taken at first slip.Earlier, Brooks showcased excellent mix of attack and defence against the Afghanistan spinners, who tried too hard for wickets at most times. Rashid Khan had a couple of strong lbw appeals turned down and that added to their frustration. However, in the absence of DRS for the game, there was no choice but to accept the on-field decisions.Rahkeem Cornwall celebrates a wicket with captain Jason Holder•Getty Images

While Afghanistan did make inroads and one wicket invariably brought another, Brooks stayed firm. After counter-attacking for the first half of his innings, he assumed a more measured approach after lunch but didn’t miss out on the loose deliveries. Rashid, in particular, was at the receiving end as Brooks took 69 off 108 balls from the legspinner.In all, Brooks struck 15 fours and a six before being bowled by Hamza while looking for quick runs with his side eight wickets down.John Campbell, the other overnight batsman, took to attack straightaway. The strategy paid off as he deployed a variety of sweeps – slog, lap, reverse – to counter the left-arm spin of Hamza and took 15 from the bowler’s second over of the day. He brought up his maiden Test fifty with a single to deep square-leg, courtesy a conventional sweep.Brooks was more orthodox at the other end but no less attacking. In one Rashid over, he struck two fours and a six as West Indies went past 100. Campbell and he added 82 in just 19.1 overs before Hamza broke the stand with Campbell’s wicket for 55, scored in 75 balls. But it was as much Ihsanullah’s wicket too, as the slip fielder moved swiftly to his right upon seeing Campbell shaping up for a lap sweep, put in the dive and completed the catch one-handed.Shimron Hetmyer and Chase didn’t last long and at 150 for 5, it looked like Afghanistan had clawed their way back. But Shane Dowrich thwarted their hopes. Like the batsmen before him, Dowrich too started aggressively, hitting three fours in no time to move to 15 in as many balls. It wasn’t that the Afghanistan spinners didn’t create any chances. Apart from the lbw shouts, Rashid got Brooks to edge one behind but Afsar Zazai dropped the catch. The batsman was on 59 at that time.Brooks and Dowrich added 74 for the sixth wicket and took the side into the lead. But once Zahir Khan got Dowrich lbw, the rest of the batting didn’t last long. Hamza picked up three of the remaining four wickets, while Cornwall was wrongly given out lbw off Rashid, with the ball brushing the inside edge on its way to the pads.

Joe Denly has become the latest member of the England squad to call for better batting pitches in the County Championship.Denly, the Kent batsman, was one of the few England players to emerge with any credit after a poor display in the second innings of the first Test in Mount Maunganui. After making 74 in the first innings – his fourth half-century in six Test innings – he fought hard for three-and-a-half hours in the second before he was defeated by one that reared and took his glove.But, having reflected on his first year as a Test batsman and compared it to his long career in the first-class game – 16 years and counting – he has come to the same conclusion reached by Jos Buttler earlier in the week: if England are to compete in overseas Tests, they will have to play domestic cricket that closer replicates the conditions seen in those Tests.”Having played quite a lot of first-class cricket, certainly the last few years it has been very tough as a top-order batter,” Denly said. “Going back to when I first started my career, the benchmark for runs in a season would be 1,200-plus. Some players were scoring 1,500 or 1,600.”You don’t see that any more. I think 1,000 runs is a pretty good season. That’s the kind of standard that batters across the country are setting themselves.”That, I think, is down to the pitches we play on. It’s hard work, very rarely do you come across flat surfaces where you can almost book yourself in for 100, 200 runs. You work hard for every single run. Hopefully, we can start produce batter-friendly wickets. A bit in it for both bowler and batter.”While it has to be pointed out that the county schedule has been cut in recent times – each county plays 14 rather than 16 Championship matches a season – few would deny that Denly has a point. The combination of the Dukes ball, which tends to seam and swing for longer than other brands, and surfaces providing seam bowlers assistance has created an entertaining County Championship but also one that offers little comparison to conditions found in Mount Maunganui in recent days. And with England’s bowlers lacking experience in bowling in such conditions and their batsmen lacking experience in batting in them, England slipped to their fourth innings defeat in 14 away Tests under Joe Root’s leadership. Only one man in Division One of the Championship – Dom Sibley – made 1,000 runs in the 2019 season.”Making big scores becomes a habit,” Denly continued. “It’s all very well saying we need to go on and get these big scores [for England]. But if it is not something you’re used to doing [with your county], then it’s not quite as easy as that. Hopefully, we can help these young batters by producing some better wickets for them to go on and get those big scores.”Although many will agree with Denly, improving county surfaces will not be easy. With limited-overs cricket occupying a window in the prime weeks of summer, the Championship programme has, in recent years, been pushed ever more towards early and late season when groundsmen have little chance of preparing flat batting tracks. Equally, groundstaff are hampered by the amount of tracks they are required to prepare, regulations removing the use of the heavy roller and pressure from coaches who demand result wickets. In the longer term, there is talk of playing the Championship at the same time as The Hundred, which might allow for better surfaces, albeit away from Test grounds, which will be required for The Hundred, and without many of the country’s best players.Meanwhile, Denly confirmed that he was fit – and keen – to bowl in the first Test. Although he suffered an ankle injury that kept him out of the T20I series, he had recovered in time to play a full part in the first Test. He has taken 66 first-class wickets with his part-time leg-spin.”I might have to reiterate to Rooty that I am able to bowl,” he said. “I would have liked to have a bowl in this game. He did tell me to warm up just before Mitchell Santner got out. And then he got out so I didn’t get that chance. I will be able to bowl in Hamilton.”

The BCB has raised the match fees of Bangladesh’s centrally contracted players after three years, with the highest jump given to Test fees. In the 2020 calendar year, a player will earn BDT 600,000 (approximately $7,000 approx) per Test, which is a rise of more than 70% from their BDT 350,000 ($4,000 approx) from 2017 and 2019.The rise in Test match fees comes after a poor year in the longest format, when Bangladesh lost all five matches to New Zealand, Afghanistan and India. But the BCB has put emphasis on their performance in Tests in light of the World Test Championship, which has already increased the number of Tests Bangladesh play in the next two years.Match fees for ODIs and T20Is have also increased significantly from the previous three years. For each ODI, a player will get BDT 300,000 ($3,500 approx) compared to the previous BDT 200,000 ($2,300 approx), while the match fees for T20Is have increased from BDT 125,000 ($1,400 approx) to BDT 200,000 ($2,300 approx).BCB president Nazmul Hassan, after the board meeting on Sunday, said that they will also reconsider the number of centrally contracted players. During the players’ strike last year, the cricketers had demanded that the number should be 30. They had also pointed out that their salary or match fee hadn’t increased since 2017.”We will again discuss the number of players on January 15. We want there to be some more new guys who have performed recently,” said Hassan.He also said that Mashrafe Mortaza, Bangladesh’s ODI captain, had asked the board to not given him a central contract. “Mashrafe Mortaza has asked us not to keep him in the central contract [list]. He will continue playing but he wants someone new to get a place among the contracted players,” Hassan said. “We have accepted it.”

Shubman Gill and Hanuma Vihari were the only bright spots for India A as the visitors struggled against the New Zealand A bowlers on day one of the four-day match in Christchurch. After India A folded for 216, the hosts’ reply was headlined by Rachin Ravindra’s 47, as they finished the day on 105 for 2.Gill and Vihari came together to post a 119-run partnership after New Zealand quicks Jacob Duffy and Sean Solia dismissed the top three batsmen for low scores, with the former sending Test opener Mayank Agarwal back for a duck. While Gill countered with a run-a-ball 83, Vihari made a 79-ball 51. Following their dismissals in the space of 3.3 overs, a collapse was triggered as Michael Rae and offspinner Cole McConchie combined to take out the last five India A batsmen within the next 11 overs for just 33 runs. None of the India A batsmen barring Gill and Vihari crossed 20, with five batsmen getting out for single-digit scores.In reply, New Zealand A openers Hamish Rutherford and Will Young were off to a cautious start before Ishan Porel struck to remove the former for 28. Ravindra Rachin and Young then came together for a 68-run stand, which was broken by Mohammed Siraj, following which nightwatchman Ajaz Patel joined Young shortly before stumps.