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Chris Woakes, the Warwickshire allrounder, will miss the first six to eight weeks of the season after damaging his ankle ligaments on Warwickshire’s pre-season tour to Barbados.

George Dobell02-Apr-2012Chris Woakes, the Warwickshire allrounder, will miss the first six to eight weeks of the season after damaging his ankle ligaments on Warwickshire’s pre-season tour to Barbados.He sustained the injury in the final of the Banks Barbados Cup Final at the Kensington Oval. Sliding to stop a ball in the field, Woakes’ studs stuck in the turf in an episode reminiscent of Simon Jones’ career-threatening injury at Brisbane in 2002. Warwickshire initially feared that Woakes had broken his ankle.Woakes has been referred to ECB medical staff who have arranged for him to see a specialist to asses the length of his absence.The news is a substantial blow to the county’s Championship hopes. Woakes, 23, has emerged as a key allrounder in recent seasons and averaged 48.25 with the bat and 21.78 with the ball in first-class cricket last season. A bowler capable of swinging the ball both ways, Woakes might have been expected to prove particularly dangerous on early season wickets.The injury also a setback to Woakes’ own international ambitions. He has played four ODIs and three T20Is and retains hopes of forcing his way into the England Test side in all formats. He is expected to miss the first four rounds of championship games and the opening CB40 fixture.Warwickshire received better news of Tim Ambrose, the former England wicketkeeper. He underwent hip surgery over the winter and was not expected to be fit for the first couple of rounds of games. But he is recovering ahead of schedule and is now hoping to be available when the club’s season starts in earnest with a championship game against Somerset at Edgbaston on April 12.

Michael Holding has slammed the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) for its treatment of senior players, including Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Jerome Taylor

ESPNcricinfo staff24-May-2012Michael Holding, the commentator and former West Indies fast bowler, has slammed the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) for its treatment of senior players, including Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Jerome Taylor, none of whom is in the current Test squad in England.Gayle has made himself available for the one-day leg of the England tour but his selection will depend on a meeting with the WICB to mop up ‘residual matters’ relating to their year-long spat. However, Holding wasn’t convinced that the board really wants Gayle back in the team because of the lack of clarity on their stand with Gayle.”He is available, yet the WICB are still putting out press releases saying there are residual matters to be dealt with. What residual matters? It is supposed to be cleared [up], so what residual matter is there now?” Holding told the Jamaica-based SportsMax Cable network. “People responsible for West Indies cricket do not want Chris Gayle in the team.”Gayle, a former captain, hasn’t played for West Indies since the World Cup last year. His stand-off with the board began when he made critical comments against them during a radio interview. Since then he has been flourishing as a batsman in Twenty20 leagues across the world, including the IPL. He recently pulled out of his contract with Somerset to make himself available for the one-dayers in England.Sarwan, a former captain, hasn’t played for West Indies since June 2011. He said comments by the head coach Ottis Gibson broke him mentally. He is currently playing for Leicestershire in the English county season and has been in good batting form, hitting two centuries and two fifties. He said the county stint has helped him gain back his confidence, but would not turn down Leicestershire for the moment.Holding doesn’t expect to see Sarwan return to the team in this current climate even if the board wants to settle their differences.”The man is happy,” Holding said. “He is making runs, yes, and he should be in the West Indies team, but he personally is happy where he is. I don’t see him leaving that now to go back to a situation where he is going to be unhappy, because he knows he’s not wanted. It’s the same thing with Chris Gayle.”Taylor, the fast bowler, hasn’t played for West Indies since June 2010. Taylor was not named in the preliminary squad for the World Cup last year due to a back injury and the board claimed that he had not maintained his physiotherapy appointments. Taylor said the WICB had not contacted him about his back injury before he left to play in the IPL, and it only did so on April 7, 2011, once he’d arrived in India. The board said Taylor had to play a full season of first-class cricket to be considered for selection, but Holding was critical of their stance. Taylor missed the entire 2011-12 domestic season and his IPL franchise, Pune Warriors, bought out his contract.”What sort of motivation is that for a young man like that? You rule him out for 2011, against Australia and against England that they are playing now, more than likely he won’t be selected again to the team. There’s no opportunity to bring him in.”In a separate interview with the , Holding was especially critical of Gibson. “Ottis Gibson needs to understand that the West Indies cricket team is not a boot camp. He needs to learn how to man-manage.”I have no issue with Ottis trying to get discipline back into the team. But it is the way he has done it. As soon as someone says anything he doesn’t particularly like, he doesn’t want them around.”

England have named a full-strength one-day squad for the series against Australia which starts on Friday

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jun-2012England have named a full-strength one-day squad for the series against Australia which starts on Friday with the 14-man party the same as originally named for the matches against West Indies.None of the players drafted in when England rotated their squad for the final ODI against West Indies – which was washed out at Headingley – are included for the start of the series. Stuart Meaker, Chris Woakes and James Tredwell were brought in when Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann and Tim Bresnan were rested.England did not make any changes during the first two ODIs against West Indies which means Jade Dernbach, Samit Patel and Jonny Bairstow have yet to feature in 50-over cricket for England this season although all three played in the Twenty20 victory at Trent Bridge.The captain Alastair Cook and Ravi Bopara will prepare by facing Australia after being released for Essex’s match at Chelmsford on Tuesday. Steven Finn and Eoin Morgan are also available to Middlesex for the Friends Life t20 fixture against Kent while Craig Kieswetter is available for Somerset.Geoff Miller, the national selector, said: “The series win against West Indies was pleasing and we are making steady progress in one-day cricket with a sixth straight series victory on home soil. Australia are a strong one day side and I’ve no doubt this will be a challenging NatWest series for us and we will need to play some very good cricket over the next three weeks.”Playing against the No. 1 ranked one-day side in the world is an excellent test for us as we look to keep steadily improving ahead of next summer’s Champions Trophy and the 2015 World Cup.”Squad Alastair Cook (capt) James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Craig Kieswetter, Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott

Back-to-back Ashes series in 2013 may arrive too soon for Pat Cummins’ young body to cope with, says Australia coach Mickey Arthur

Daniel Brettig02-Jul-2012Back-to-back Ashes series in 2013 may arrive too soon for Pat Cummins’ young body to cope with. Australia’s coach Mickey Arthur has forecast another two years of injuries and brief international appearances for Cummins until the 19-year-old’s body matures to deal with the demands of fast bowling.Cummins returned to international duty against Ireland for the first time since his Test debut last November, but suffered a side strain against England at Lord’s and is now on his way home to recover. His performances so far when fit have been enough to suggest that Cummins will be a fast bowler of the highest quality, but Arthur said Cricket Australia and the game’s followers would have to be patient in waiting for his body to be up to the rigours of the task.”We forget he’s only 19, he’s still growing,” Arthur said. “It’s disappointing him coming back and then picking up another injury but we’re just going to have to live with that for another couple of years until he gets stronger and his body is used to the workloads. We’ve just got to keep giving him the opportunities because he’s going to be very, very good. I definitely see him playing all three forms.”Australia has deemed Cummins so important to the national side’s future that the team performance manager Pat Howard has drawn up a three-year plan for his management and development from his teenage beginnings into adulthood. Arthur said the plan included selective exposure to conditions around the world, from this year’s brief England visit to the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka later in the year and potentially the Test tour of India in 2013.”We’ve just got to find out what works for him and expose him to conditions around the world,” Arthur said. “We’ve got an important tour here next year so it’s really important he has a look at English conditions. Hopefully he’ll be ready for the World T20, we can expose him to bowling in the subcontinent a little bit and we know he’s proficient in our conditions. But we’ve got to live with the fact he is going to break down, he is 19.”The example of Brett Lee is relevant to Cummins’ case. Lee made his first class debut while still a teenager in the 1994-95 season but a series of injuries and adjustments to his bowling action meant he was a far more hardened bowler by the time he earned his first Test cap against India in 1999. Lee has previously stated that young bowlers have to experience pain and injury over time to understand their limits, rather than being nursed through by medical and fitness staff.”Most importantly, you don’t want guys at 17 or 18; the first time they feel a niggle, they go to the physio and say ‘my calf’s hurting me’ and they have three weeks off,” Lee said last year. “They don’t know where the line is.”Arthur said Australia’s management of fast bowlers was becoming more individualised all the time, highlighting the individual player plans brought in under Howard from the New Zealand rugby team.”I don’t think there’s a blanket rule, everyone’s different,” Arthur said. “A lot of guys bowl better by bowling all year round but you’ve still got to monitor their workloads. Sometimes when guys rest and then spark then that’s when they go into a major danger area so it’s a conundrum and I think everybody is different.”That’s why we’ve got these individual player plans for our guys now, we’re trying to work out what’s best for every guy to make sure they’re ready to perform.”

Lancashire moved to the top of Group A in the Clydesdale Bank 40 with a tense four-wicket win over Gloucestershire at Old Trafford

30-Jul-2012
ScorecardKarl Brown made a well-constructed 60 on a pitch tough for batting•Getty Images

Lancashire moved to the top of Group A in the Clydesdale Bank 40 with a tense four-wicket win over Gloucestershire at Old Trafford. Karl Brown and Paul Horton put on 82 to chase down their target of 185 in a low-scoring match.And after both went with 15 runs still required, Ajmal Shahzad smashed 10 off five balls to help Lancashire over the line with five deliveries to spare as they leapfrogged their opponents in the table.Ian Cockbain had made 58 off 49 balls, including 30 in seven deliveries in the final two overs, to push what looked like being a below-par Gloucestershire total into a challenging 184 for seven. Cockbain, who earlier in his career played for Lancashire seconds, also claimed a stunning catch at point to end what was becoming a dangerous knock by Stephen Moore, who made 37.But his heroics were not enough as Horton, who dislocated his finger while fielding, made 46 and Brown 60 to steer Lancashire into pole position in the race to reach the semi-finals.After Gloucestershire won the toss, Lancashire made an early breakthrough when Rob Nicol slashed a Shahzad delivery straight to Glen Chapple in the third over. Benny Howell quickly followed as he edged the impressive Chapple to wicketkeeper Gareth Cross.Hamish Marshall had made 23 when he was trapped lbw by an Oliver Newby yorker as the Gladiators struggled to 35 for 3. Alex Gidman and Dan Housego steadied the ship with a 47-run partnership before Newby returned to demolish Gidman’s stumps and Gary Keedy then bowled Housego for a gritty 43.Going into the final two overs, Gloucestershire had scored just five boundaries. But Cockbain changed all that. After putting on 42 with Chris Dent, who fell to a good catch from Moore off Shahzad for 27, he helped the visitors pile on 52 runs in the last five overs – including three successive sixes off spinner Stephen Parry in the final over – before he was stumped off the final delivery of the innings.Moore and Ashwell Prince gave Lancashire a solid start to their reply, putting on 43 before South African Prince was surprised by extra bounce and chipped David Payne – who finished with three for 39 – to Nicol.Stephen Croft went for three when he top-edged a sweep off Ed Young and then Cockbain pulled off a stunning diving catch at backward point to end Moore’s knock. But Horton and Brown overcame the tough batting conditions to set up the Lancashire victory before Horton was trapped lbw to James Fuller and Brown holed out to Payne.

Batsman Darren Bravo and allrounder Andre Russell have returned to the West Indies squad for the World Twenty20 to be played in Sri Lanka

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Aug-2012Batsman Darren Bravo and allrounder Andre Russell have returned to the West Indies squad for the World Twenty20 to be played in Sri Lanka. Bravo had to return to the West Indies from the tour of England after suffering a groin injury and missed the home series against New Zealand as a result. Russell had missed the T20 leg of the series against New Zealand in Florida due to an injury he had picked up in England, but played the ODI series in the Caribbean thereafter.The remainder of the squad, led by Darren Sammy with Dwayne Bravo as his deputy, is the same as the one picked against New Zealand in Florida. West Indies won that series 2-0. In addition to Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard, two power-players in the batting line-up, the squad also features opener Lendl Simmons and top-order batsman Johnson Charles, who’s played six T20s for West Indies, averaging 29.66.Fidel Edwards, Ravi Rampaul and Russell comprise the pace attack with Dwayne Bravo, Pollard, Sammy and Dwayne Smith also available to bowl medium-pace. Sunil Narine, who played a crucial role in Kolkata Knight Riders winning the fifth season of the IPL and picked up seven wickets in the two T20 wins against New Zealand, has legspinner Samuel Badree for company in the spin department. Badree made his international debut in the New Zealand series.West Indies play their first warm-up, against hosts Sri Lanka, on September 13. Their first game of the tournament is against Australia on September 22.West Indies squad: Darren Sammy (capt), Dwayne Bravo (vice-capt), Samuel Badree, Darren Bravo, Johnson Charles, Fidel Edwards, Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Ravi Rampaul, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith.

Another fine all-round effort from Shane Watson steered Australia into the Super Eights as they claimed a Duckworth-Lewis victory over West Indies in Colombo

The Report by Brydon Coverdale22-Sep-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Shane Watson was Man of the Match for his 41 not out and 2 for 29•Getty Images

Another fine all-round effort from Shane Watson steered Australia into the Super Eights as they claimed a Duckworth-Lewis victory over West Indies in Colombo. Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels both scored quick half-centuries to put up a hefty score of 191 but a strong start from Australia, who reached 100 for 1, was enough to ensure they were ahead when the rain started bucketing down in the tenth over of the chase.On a day when South Africa and Sri Lanka’s match was reduced to an absurd seven-over-a-side battle, this game had all the ingredients for a thriller until the weather intervened. Australia were pursuing what would have been the fifth-highest successful run chase in T20 international history, while West Indies at the halfway mark appeared well-placed to open their campaign with a victory. They must now defeat Ireland on Monday to join Australia in the next stage.The second over of Australia’s innings set them on the path to victory as David Warner took 22 off Ravi Rampaul, including sixes from an upper cut and a pull, as well as two fours. Warner fell in the next over for 28, unhappy to be given out caught behind driving at Fidel Edwards, but he had given Australia the lightning start they needed in such a big chase. Michael Hussey came to the crease and crunched Darren Sammy over wide long-on for six, and then Watson took control.He was eased in thanks to a free-hit against Sunil Narine, which was duly slog-swept for six, and Marlon Samuels also felt the brunt of Watson’s force in an over that cost 22. It included consecutive sixes – the second a flat pull that fizzed through the hands of Dwayne Smith at deep midwicket and lobbed over the boundary, which could have turned out to be a costly drop. As it was, Watson moved on to 41 not out and Hussey was on 28 when the rain came, and Australia were well ahead on Duckworth-Lewis.It was a shame for West Indies that they didn’t get the full opportunity to defend their strong score, set up by Gayle and Samuels. But both men fell soon after reaching their half-centuries and Australia’s bowlers did just enough to keep their side in the match. Watson (2 for 29) picked up the key wicket of Gayle for 54, having dropped him on 4, and he also removed Kieron Pollard to help slow West Indies’ momentum towards the end of their innings.Things started well for Australia as Mitchell Starc struck in the second over, bowling Dwayne Smith for 2 with a wonderful inswinger that took the top of off stump. The next over was a maiden from Pat Cummins as Johnson Charles looked all at sea and struggled to lay bat on the swinging ball, and at 11 for 1 from three overs Australia were thrilled with the opening.But their plans started to fall apart in the fourth over when Gayle, who was yet to score a boundary, tried to launch Starc down the ground and succeeded only in skying a leading edge to third man, where Watson ran in and dropped a difficult chance while diving forward. Charles pummelled the next ball for six over wide long-on and Gayle wasn’t far behind him.Gayle found the boundary for the first time with a slice over point for four off Cummins and he took 18 off the over, with a couple more fours and a six pulled over square leg. In typical Gayle fashion he had allowed himself a few overs to acclimatise and then swiftly moved into top gear. He lost his partner Charles for 16 when Daniel Christian gained some extra bounce and the ball ricocheted off the glove and onto the stumps.But the runs kept coming for Gayle, who lifted Brad Hogg over long-on for six with a nonchalant push and then greeted the offspinner Glenn Maxwell with another six over long-on from his first ball. Seventeen came off that Maxwell over, the last four from an inside edge that whizzed past the leg stump and the wicketkeeper for four and gave Gayle his half-century from 26 balls.He eventually fell for 54 when a short of good length delivery from Watson seamed away and Gayle’s leading edge was caught by the bowler running into the off side. For a couple of overs the runs slowed, until Samuels found his touch. He launched a couple of sixes, one impressively over the off side from the bowling of Christian, and then cleared the boundary twice in two balls against Watson.Samuels’ half-century came from 31 balls but he didn’t add to his score, caught at long-on for 50 from the bowling of Hogg. Watson picked up Pollard for 10 and Bravo was bowled by Cummins for 27 but West Indies had enough depth to keep the runs coming, albeit not quite as quickly as they had earlier. Starc picked up two late wickets, including Sammy for 11, to finish with 3 for 35.In the end, the weather meant West Indies’ efforts were in vain. They entered the tournament as one of the favourites, and must now see off Ireland in order to progress to the Super Eights.Readers in the USA, Caribbean and South America can watch highlights of the match here.