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The former Australia assistant coach is ready to relaunch his career after a bit of time away following Justin Langer’s appointment as the head coach

ESPNcricinfo staff01-May-2019Former Australia assistant coach David Saker has distanced himself from last year’s Newlands ball-tampering scandal, saying that the only kind of work on the ball he had condoned was to have team members throw it into the ground to aid reverse swing.Saker, who after successful stints with England and Victoria was named Darren Lehmann’s assistant in 2016, resigned at the end of this year’s home summer and has cited a loss of passion and enthusiasm for the task as the reason for separating ways from Lehmann’s successor Justin Langer.As part of his severance agreement with Cricket Australia, Saker signed non-disclosure terms, due to expire on September 19 after the conclusion of this year’s Ashes series. But on Wednesday, he spoke generally about the impact that the scandal had on his work around the team, after he had been lauded for his work with England on reverse swing.”You’re sort of looking at yourself, saying ‘what could have I done to make sure that didn’t happen?’,” Saker told . “It was really devastating, not just for me but for everyone involved. I’m sure that for a while there it affected the way I was around the group but I’ve moved on from that.”We’ve never, ever condoned any sort of cheating. Obviously, teams throw the ball into the ground, most teams do that. That’s pretty much the way you go about it.”Langer and Saker did not always see things the same way as a coaching duo in the wake of Lehmann’s exit, with the former assistant saying that on reflection he needed time away from the game and was now looking to re-launch his career, possibly as the new head coach of Melbourne Stars.”Under Boof [Lehmann] particularly, we won an Ashes and had some really good series wins, so that was good. There were obviously some frustrating times after South Africa,” Saker said. “New coach came in, things changed quite a bit, and I probably wasn’t as passionate as I was before that.”On reflection, it’s probably a good thing that I got out, just refreshed myself. As I said, I’m ready to go again. I enjoyed my time with the Australian cricket team but I think it was time for me to move on.”Looking ahead to the Ashes, Saker said the balance of the Australian team would be vital, and pointedly noted that Mitchell Starc’s bowling may only work in a bowling attack in English conditions that has five options rather than four.”They’ve just got to be smart. Over there it’s not all about air speed, it’s about making sure you bowl the ball in the right areas,” he said. “It’ll be a tough job for the selectors, but the beauty of it is they’ve got five or six fast bowlers, and the world’s best off-spinner, so they’re pretty well-placed to win the Ashes.”The best scenario would be if they had a [Marcus] Stoinis playing really good cricket, or a Mitchell Marsh playing really good cricket, and do some really good bowling, you could maybe play Starc as an impact bowler.”When you’ve only got four bowlers, you can’t really do that. You’ve got to have all four doing their job. If you’ve got five it’s a little bit different. It’s going to come down to how they set up their team.”

Fast bowler plays down fitness worries as he prepares to get back up to full speed in England’s World Cup opener

George Dobell at The Oval27-May-2019Mark Wood says he was right to be safe rather than sorry so close to the start of the World Cup, after he was cleared of serious injury following a scan on his troublesome left ankle.Wood, one of two England bowlers who regularly generate pace in excess of 90 mph – Jofra Archer is the other – pulled up during his fourth over of the warm-up match against Australia in Southampton on Saturday. Given his history of foot and ankle problems, there was some trepidation in the England camp when he was subsequently sent for scans.But those scans came back clear on the morning of England’s second warm-up game against Afghanistan at The Oval on Monday. Though he took no part in the game, he came through a training session unscathed, and expects to be fully fit and available to play in the World Cup opener, on the same ground, against South Africa on Thursday.”I wasn’t worried about the scan because I knew it was precautionary,” said Wood after the Afghanistan match. “I probably could have carried on bowling, but I didn’t want to take any risks with it, when I knew what was round the corner – especially with my background.”So I said to Jos ‘I have felt something, can I go off and get it checked’. The medics didn’t want me to go back on.”The caution was fully understandable, given that Wood has undergone three bouts of ankle surgery since his England debut in 2015, and had been limited to just 13.1 overs of competitive action since the start of the English season.But Wood showed no signs of rustiness in his England comeback against Pakistan earlier this month, and is confident that he’ll be ready to hit the ground running when the tournament proper begins later this week.”I had jarred my foot landing when I bowled a slower ball,” he explained. “It felt a bit weird and I thought I might have actually tweaked the bottom bit of my foot, but the scans come back clear and couldn’t have been any better – just a jar on my knee.”I was a bit unsure of how I would go to today, starting running again, but I had a run-around this morning and felt it good. That was a tick in the box. Then I had a light bowl – that felt fine. Then I had a bit of heavier bowl whilst the lads were playing football and that felt absolutely fine. If anything I just need to get it on the ice machine 24/7 for next couple of days.”Who will win the World Cup? Play Cricket Picks and winAsked if he felt anxious about running in at full tilt in spite of all his injury concerns, Wood said that he knew his body well enough to recognise when he was facing a real issue.”Yes and no,” he said. “Yes, because I have had lots of problems there before, but no because this was in a different place. The ankle problems I get is in the front left of my ankle and this was on the back and a bit higher.”I will fully join in with practice on Wednesday and then ready to go on Thursday if selected.”I would have liked to have had a few more overs under my belt but it’s not a huge concern,” he added. “I am getting the volume I can in the nets and that is as good as it can be at the minute – I can’t do anything about not playing.”England also had good news about the fitness of their captain, Eoin Morgan. Morgan was diagnosed with a small fracture in a finger on Thursday, but had recovered sufficiently to lead the team in Monday’s match, although in the 12-a-side contest he chose not to field and was not called upon to bat.Adil Rashid, who missed Saturday’s game with a shoulder injury, also had his first competitive work-out since the Pakistan series, bowling six overs in Afghanistan’s innings of 160.Chris Woakes, who played as a specialist batsman on Saturday, also took a full part as a bowler against Afghanistan, as did Jofra Archer, a man with whom Wood may compete for a share of the new ball on Thursday.”I’ve enjoyed it,” said Wood of bowling with Archer. “Even sat on the bench today, it’s good watching fast bowling. Even better when you are at the other end. When I was at mid-off and we were talking through plans, it is a nice feeling seeing people hopping round.”It is the partnership we want to develop. Obviously Woakes has cemented his place as an opening bowler over the years but if we get the chance to bowl together it will be exciting to bowl with Jofra again.”

Openers leaves Australia’s selectors with a quandary while James Pattinson, Jackson Bird and Jon Holland bag three wickets each

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Jul-2019Joe Burns provided Australia’s selectors with a conundrum after matching Marcus Harris with a century for Australia A before the bowlers ripped through Sussex to put the tourists on the brink of victory on day three at Arundel.Burns was a late inclusion in the Australia A squad, after suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome, and the team for this match after Matthew Wade was called up to Australia’s World Cup squad.Burns and Harris added just 11 to the 203-run opening stand they produced on day two before Harris fell caught behind for 109 but Burns kicked on to reach his century. Kurtis Patterson fell cheaply before Burns and Travis Head shared a 61-run stand until Head was given out lbw sweeping Luke Wells for 34.Burns was eventually dismissed by a beauty from Mir Hamza, edging him to slip for 133 from 241 balls.”My goal coming into the game was just to try and face as many balls as possible, so I’m satisfied with the performance,” Burns said.He added he benefitted from a more relaxed approach to his preparation following his time out with post viral fatigue issues.”I’ve probably listened to my body a lot more,” Burns said. “During the summer I was really pushing hard all the time trying to prepare as best as you can and every time I felt fatigued I just thought I had to work harder and do more. I probably just have a better understanding of where my body is at. I’m listening to it a little bit more now.”Coming into the game, I was just trying to focus on being as fresh as possible. It’s actually quite relaxing mentally coming into the game, again getting called in at the last minute probably helped with that and it just makes you relax when you get out into the middle.”Burns and Harris appear to be in a battle to partner David Warner in the opening Ashes Test but Burns said they were not worried about that against Sussex.”As openers you’re always working as a partnership, trying to get through the partnership and helping each other out in the middle,” Burns said. “[Harris] has had a tremendous season and done extremely well and made plenty of runs. You saw in this game he walks out there, whacks them from ball one.”There’s a lot of players making a lot of runs. It’s great signs for Australian cricket and honestly, as players, you just get out there in the middle and work with your partner to try and overcome the opposition. You don’t really look at each other competing for spots. I’ve always thought that if everyone’s making runs, there’s a spot for everyone.”Usman Khawaja’s hamstring injury may provide another spot in the Australia Test top order although Steve Smith is also set to return. Burns said he was bitterly disappointed to see his Queensland team-mate get injured, but would bat anywhere if required.”I was shattered for him,” Burns said. “Hopefully it’s not too bad. It’s a cruel game sometimes. I feel comfortable anywhere. I’ve batted in a lot of different positions in the order in the past. Hopefully Uzzie [Khawaja] is there though. He’s made that No.3 spot his own and is a really integral part of the Test team. As a team-mate you don’t really want to think like that, you just hope he can get back playing and recover as quickly as possible.”Australia A collapsed against the second new ball following Burns’ dismissal falling from 313 for 3 to 373 all out, but their bowlers tore through Sussex’s batting line-up in the afternoon.Jackson Bird, James Pattinson and Jon Holland each took three wickets as Sussex were bundled out for 120 right on stumps.Bird got the ball to swing and nip as he claimed three top-order scalps in two overs before Holland found some purchase to give Patterson two catches at slip. Pattinson blasted out the tail with pace to leave Australia A with just 11 runs to win on the final day.

Nearly half of Jofra Archer’s 42 deliveries on the third morning were left alone – not that he was the man for these conditions anyway

Andrew Miller at Lord's16-Aug-2019There were 24.1 overs possible on the third day at Lord’s. Enough time for a rapt crowd to be seduced by possibility as Australia resisted in the first hour then faltered in the next, to leave the balance of the innings – and by extension the match – once again firmly pressed into the flinchy, twitchy, impossibly idiosyncratic hands of Steven Smith.But it’s a measure of the speed and fragility of Test batting in the T20 era that three wickets seemed scant return for the opportunity that had presented itself in England’s two-hour window before the deluge.Perhaps we are getting greedy, or cynical, or both. Or perhaps we need only to look at the evidence of recent Test matches involving England – most particularly on this very ground, but all around the world too – to know that when bowling sides get it right in even the most faintly conducive of conditions, carnage can ensue.After all, 24.1 overs is three more balls than Ireland required to rout England for 85 on the first day at Lord’s last month. And it is 51 more than England themselves needed to exact their fourth-innings vengeance in the same game, as Ireland tumbled in turn for 38.It is 16 deliveries more than England needed to lose all ten of their wickets against West Indies in Barbados in February, and 21 more than it took for them to be 58 all out in Auckland two winters ago.And, lest we lose sight of the fact that England aren’t the team batting right now, it is still only three home Ashes Tests since Australia were the side being routed for 60 in 18.3 overs at Trent Bridge.And as the instigator of that remarkable rout four years ago, Stuart Broad knows better than most what can happen when bowling sides get on a roll these days. “We’re pretty positive,” he said of the match situation. “We’d need to bowl Australia out by lunch tomorrow, but there’s 98 overs for the next two days, which for both teams has been enough to bowl each other out, hasn’t it?”And the common denominator to all of the above debacles? It was length, obviously. There was high-class pace on occasions, allied to late movement, not least from New Zealand’s Trent Boult and West Indies’ Kemar Roach. But whatever the speed, the top of off has been the target, best exemplified by Ireland’s Tim Murtagh, and also by England’s best combination for the brooding grey skies that greeted today’s start of play – Broad himself and Chris Woakes.But instead what we got was exhilarating in its own way, but by and large a pointless misallocation of England’s precious resources. By the time he was given a breather in the second hour of the morning, Jofra Archer had bowled 13 overs out of 27 – six on Wednesday night, seven more this morning – and if sighting his exocets in the gloom was occasionally tricky for Australia’s batsmen, it was nothing like the challenge that England should have been unleashing.If truth be told, Australia could and probably should have been routed under cloud cover, just as England should – but clearly couldn’t – have capitalised on Thursday’s clear skies after being inserted. That’s just the way the Test cookie is crumbling these days, and Broad knows that only too well.”We know here at Lord’s that if the sun comes out you can quite easily go and get a wicketless session with the bat,” he said. “But you know if it clouds over and the humidity rises, you can get 10 wickets in a session. You need a bit of luck when those conditions fall. Both bowling attacks have got a lot of confidence in taking wickets. I think this series will be quite intriguing.””[Jofra] showed great control, bowls a nice nagging length. I don’t think there’s any doubt within the group and within the media that he has the attributes to be a Test cricketer. There are going to be times when he blows teams away.”But this was not a day for blowing a side away. This was a day for old-fashioned English seam-and-swing virtues, one of the few areas in which England still retain genuine Test prowess. And for all of Archer’s preternatural coolness under fire, he was still a debutant quick striving for his maiden Test wicket in the midst of a Lord’s Ashes Test, and in conditions that have been proven to favour bowlers who stay within their limitations and simply invite errors.None of which is intended as any criticism of Archer’s approach to his day’s work. Rather, it points to an unsympathetic piece of captaincy from Joe Root, who seems every bit as excited by his new quick’s potential as England’s fans, but whose most fundamental role is to not to get carried away by what he offers. It was, as Michael Vaughan noted on , as if England had jumped straight to “Plan D or E” without trusting the tried and tested.”It was a bit of a learner for him this morning,” Broad said of Archer’s spell. “There was a bit getting used to the slope in red-ball cricket at Lord’s. It was maybe a yard too short from all of us until we made a conscious effort to get it fuller and we got instant reward bringing stumps into play with [Cameron] Bancroft, and then Woakesy’s full-of-a-length to get the edge.”ALSO READ: Must ignore Smith’s twitches and stick to plan – RootAlmost half of Archer’s deliveries on the third day – 20 out of 42 – were left alone with varying degrees of comfort, which coincidentally matched the number of his deliveries that were either back of a length or short. Woakes, by contrast, found the edge on a full length with each of his first two balls when he finally entered the attack, and though he strayed from his immaculate lines twice in that same over, 40 of his 48 balls ended up being a good length or fuller – one of which soon found Usman Khawaja’s edge in the channel.It’s easy to be seduced by Archer’s languid attributes, the effortless pace from an ambling run-up and the desire for hard work that led to him cranking his pace up to 93.5mph the moment that Smith strayed into his sights at the fag-end of his spell – which in itself seemed a strategic error, seeing as high pace is one of the few weapons that England believe will unseat him.But Archer is also a bowler that England are going to need to keep as “cherry-ripe” as possible if they are to force their way back into contention in this series, especially with three more Tests to come in four weeks, and their stocks already depleted – unlike Australia’s – by injuries to James Anderson, Mark Wood and Olly Stone.The loss of two more sessions in this match means that Archer’s workload isn’t going to be an issue right at this moment. “Thirteen overs in 24 hours is not bad,” said Broad, who argued that he actually needs more overs under his belt to get used to bowling good spells. Which is all well and good, but all the more reason not to have squandered a rare window of bowling opportunity on what essentially amounted to a high-profile practice session.”I don’t think Jofra bowled as quick as he can out there,” Broad added. “But what impressed me was his nagging line, the fact he can bring all dismissals in, he’s aggressive with his bouncer and this is his first Test match.”It’s a big learning experience and he seems willing and keen to learn. In our minds, because he’s been involved with the World Cup and talked about so much in the last six months, we think he’s an experienced, older and knows-it-all cricketer but he’s still learning his trade a little bit, although he’s doing it with great success.”

Less than a week ago, it had been learnt that the former New Zealand captain would take over as head coach of Trinbago Knight Riders, the CPL franchise

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Aug-2019Brendon McCullum is set to take over as head coach at Kolkata Knight Riders for the upcoming season, to go with his appointment as the head coach of Trinbago Knight Riders, the other team owned by the same group, as well.”It’s a great honour to take on this responsibility,” McCullum said. “The Knight Rider franchises in IPL and CPL have become iconic and have set the standard in franchise cricket. We have fantastic squads in both KKR and TKR and I, along with the support staff will be looking to build on the success both franchises have enjoyed.”Less than a week ago, it had been learnt that McCullum would take over as head coach at Trinbago but only as assistant coach with the IPL franchise, following his retirement from all forms of the game earlier in the month. That’s changed since, with the top job at the Kolkata franchise going to the former New Zealand captain, too.KKR’s chief executive Venky Mysore described him as an ideal candidate to take over from Jacques Kallis, the Kolkata coach till last season. “Brendon has been an integral part of the Knight Riders family for a long time,” Mysore said. “His leadership qualities, honesty, positive and aggressive style, combined with his natural ability to bring the best out of the teams he has been a part of makes him ideally suited to lead both KKR and TKR as a head coach.”McCullum, 37, was expected to play in the Euro T20 Slam from August 30 as an icon player for Glasgow Giants but instead announced his retirement as a freelance cricketer. It’s understood that the decision to skip the new tournament was because Trinbago wanted him to helm the team at the CPL this year itself, and the dates of the two competitions clashed; the CPL starts from September 5. In any case, the Euro T20 Slam has since been cancelled because of financial difficulties.Indeed, in his message on Instagram at the time of announcing his retirement, McCullum had mentioned that “the next chapter, in both media and coaching, will challenge me further”.Kolkata recently announced that they were parting ways with Kallis, their head coach, and Simon Katich, the assistant coach who was also the head coach at Trinbago.McCullum had retired from international cricket in 2016, after the Christchurch Test against Australia, but continued to turn out in franchise-cricket leagues around the world, with stints in the IPL with Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore, as well as Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash, Lahore Qalandars in the PSL and Trinbago in the CPL.His association with the Knight Riders goes way back, as Mysore noted. An early pathbreaker of sorts in T20 cricket, McCullum’s best in the format was the unbeaten 158 he made for the Kolkata team against Royal Challengers in the inaugural IPL game, in 2008.In December 2018, McCullum went unsold at the IPL auction. In February, he called time on his BBL career with Heat after a relatively strong season in which he made 302 runs in 13 innings. At the time, he had expressed his desire to continue playing T20 cricket worldwide.Only two weeks ago in London, McCullum was signed by Glasgow for the inaugural edition of the Euro T20 Slam, where he was to team up with Dale Steyn, among others. However, the desire to “plough on regardless” didn’t appeal to him anymore.”I owe it to myself and the teams I represent to close that chapter rather than just plough on regardless of what I know to be true,” he wrote. “In T20 cricket, I’ve enjoyed so many varied challenges, I can leave the game knowing I left no stone unturned.”

The West Indies fast bowler’s unpredictability a great factor in his success, says Holder

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Aug-20191:56

Kemar Roach has been brilliant – Holder

In the 45th over of India’s second innings, Ajinkya Rahane, then on 17, was facing Kemar Roach and he closed the face of the bat a bit early while attempting a flick. John Campbell at short extra cover couldn’t hold on to the catch. It was symbolic of the kind of the day Roach had. The West Indies fast bowler ended with returns of 1 for 18 off 12 overs at stumps – following up on his 4 for 66 in the first innings – but the lack of wickets belied how he had troubled Virat Kohli and Rahane, regularly beating the outside edge.His bowling prompted captain Jason Holder to say that Roach was the bowler of the match, even though India quick Ishant Sharma had taken a five-for in West Indies’ first innings.”Yes, Ishant got five wickets in the first innings but Kemar is probably the bowler of the game. I am not discrediting Ishant’s performance, I thought he bowled really well as well. But I think Kemar has so far stood out.”Kemar’s been brilliant. Him, Shannon [Gabriel] and myself, we have done a lot of hard work over the last couple of years. I am not surprised by his performance. He tends to like this ground as well, he’s had quite a bit of success here at Antigua. The thing about Kemar is that he keeps you guessing, keeps you playing and there’s never a situation where he can be predictable.”Roach dismissed Pujara for the second time in this Test, before returning to trouble Rahane and Kohli just as the pair were settling down. A ball before that dropped chance, West Indies went up in a big appeal for lbw and even reviewed the umpire’s decision but lost a review as ball-tracking showed the ball was missing the leg stump.Later in the day, the side chose not to review another lbw chance Roach had created against Rahane, who was on 48. Ball-tracking suggested the delivery would have gone on to hit middle stump and a late wicket would have buoyed West Indies, and snapped a solid partnership. As it happened, both Kohli and Rahane finished the day unbeaten, having scored half-centuries, with India’s lead at 260. Despite the missed opportunities, Holder still felt his side had a hand in the game”We definitely did drop a chance and I definitely can’t control umpiring decisions. We could have reviewed it but at that stage, we felt it was bat as well. Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way that decision. That’s just the way the game is played. The bowlers are doing an exceptional job. India is scoring at 2-plus an over which is good. We’ve missed a chance here and there and obviously the lbw decision there, the game would have looked a lot different. But having said that we are definitely in hand, still in hand, we are fighting today.”

Somerset right-hander will play in the first half of the BBL before AB de Villiers arrives to join the Heat in January

Alex Malcolm09-Oct-2019Brisbane Heat have continued their recruiting bonanza for this summer’s BBL signing England young gun Tom Banton.The explosive right-hander, who has been recently called up to England’s T20I squad for the tour of New Zealand, becomes the fourth overseas signing for the Heat behind AB de Villiers and Afghanistan spin duo Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Zahir Khan.Under BBL rules only two overseas players can play in any team at one time but additional replacements are allowed to be named.Brisbane Heat will split their four overseas players across two halves of the tournament. With de Villiers set to stay in South Africa for Christmas, Banton is likely to play the first eight games before he is likely to be needed for England’s white-ball tour of South Africa in February. Zahir Khan will also play the first half of the tournament with Banton before de Villiers and Mujeeb Ur Rahman replace the pair for the second half.If the Heat make it that far, de Villiers and Mujeeb will also play in the finals.Banton, 20, was the second leading run-scorer in this season’s T20 Blast in England, tallying 549 runs at a staggering strike-rate of 161.47. He made four half-centuries and a blistering 51-ball century against Kent.He has experience playing club cricket in Australia in Perth and has played alongside Heat batsman Matt Renshaw for Somerset.Banton’s recruitment is another coup for Heat general manager Andrew McShea and new coach Darren Lehmann. The latter spent part of the winter in the UK and said Banton’s form was irresistible.”He was the talk of English cricket during their season,” Lehmann said. “Outside the Ashes, Tom was the player that a lot of people were really excited to be watching, and with good reason.”He’s a lovely striker of the ball and has that wide and varied range of shots you need to make the most of the early overs in the Power Play or to accelerate the scoring through the middle and back half of an innings.”The prospect of pairing him alongside some of our young batsmen like Max Bryant, his mate Matt Renshaw, and Sam Heazlett is pretty enticing, that’s for sure. But we know Tom will also benefit from playing and being around the likes of Chris Lynn, Joe Burns, Ben Cutting, and Marnus Labuschagne as he takes steps to expand his skills and experience in Australian conditions.”He’s joining us for the first half of the tournament but we’re hopeful he will have some time to catch-up with AB de Villiers at some point as that would be a great opportunity as part of his experience with the Heat.”Banton was thrilled with the opportunity to play in the BBL.”If you had asked me at the start of the summer would I imagine it going like this, I would have probably had a laugh and suggested you weren’t serious,” Banton said. “I was blown away when it was announced last week that AB was coming to join the Heat so what was already going to be a huge experience just got bigger.”I’m really looking forward to coming to Brisbane and seeing what Queensland has to offer after previously playing club cricket in Perth when I was younger. I’ve watched a fair bit of the BBL at home and it is a quality competition with so many outstanding players. I can’t wait, to be honest.”The news comes just a day after the Melbourne Stars announced they had signed South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn for a six-game stint at the start of the tournament.

“Great opportunity for myself, the boys that are playing this game, to start the international summer really strongly”

Daniel Brettig10-Nov-2019Australia A’s match against Pakistan is being framed as a contest for the last couple of open spots in the Australian Test batting order, with the likes of Travis Head, Will Pucovski, Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja all in competition with one another to set themselves up for strong international summers.Yet, at the same time, it will be played in the shadow of two absentees – Glenn Maxwell and Nic Maddinson – as they deal with mental health issues that have pushed them away from the game and the accompanying pressures.Alex Carey, the Australia A captain and himself something of a contender for a Test berth in the near future, balanced his concern for Maxwell and Maddinson with an honest appraisal of the crucible into which all players will be stepping this week and for the Test matches afterwards.”For me, I’m really enjoying my cricket, you are away from home quite a bit and that’s the nature of the sport, I guess, and we do have a lot of support but I can’t speak for everyone,” Carey said in Perth. “Away from family, away from friends and we’ve got so much support and those two boys have got the support of sports psychologists, doctors, and, as a mate, I’m right behind them.ALSO READ: Setbacks and fatherhood mould Alex Carey the leader“For some people, it is easier to speak up and for those two boys to have the courage to speak up, it’s great to see them not fighting through that. Some people can put a bit of a shield up and that’s not what we want. We want guys being honest and being able to talk. Justin Langer flagged it the other day with Maxi, so we’ve got really close relationships and it’s great that they did speak up.”Those two guys are close mates of mine and I fully support those boys, along with the whole cricket family, we’re right behind those guys to get well. We give them our full support. Chris Lynn said it the other day, they’ve both got the support of the full Australian cricket public and first and foremost is the mental health and wellbeing of every player in the system.”Cricket has advanced a significant distance in a couple of years, from a time when Moises Henriques withdrew from Big Bash League duty for the Sydney Sixers under a shroud of secrecy as to his exact ailment, to Pucovski last summer and now Maxwell and Maddinson taking their troubles on far more openly and publicly.Carey noted that the recent death of the former St Kilda footballer and media personality Danny Frawley, a longtime sufferer of depression, as an example of what could lurk beneath a happy-looking surface.Glenn Maxwell will take time off from the game•Getty Images

“Any person, cricketer, someone working down the road, I think everyone should be able to speak up,” Carey said. “As we’ve seen with Danny Frawley as well, it’s around and we’ve got to have the courage to speak up, and it’s great that those two guys have done. It does set a good example for young people, for anyone.”[Maxwell and Maddinson] are going okay. I’ve sent my support and taken a back seat now and let the family, friends and close support around them take care of that.”CA’s high-performance manager Drew Ginn said that increased instances of reporting mental health struggles should be seen as a step forward, given that similar battles had long been fought in the minds of athletes, only for them to bottle them up.”I’m really happy to be involved in a sport right now that’s taking mental health and wellness really seriously,” Ginn told ABC Radio. “And I think a lot of sports are starting to wake up to this, there’s no doubt about it. In my time as an athlete, it certainly wasn’t anything you’d speak about if you were struggling, and it was almost seen as a bit of a weakness.”I think the exciting thing for me right now, and I say exciting, is – we’ve got increased rates of reporting. I’m not sure that there’s evidence to suggest that there’s actually higher rates of mental health issues than there were in the past, we just didn’t have the reporting.”There was no structure or framework around or confidence that players had that they could actually articulate this. So I think it’s a real credit to Cricket Victoria right now and I think it’s a great thing that happened in the system. We’re actually capturing these athletes and these athletes are being able to voice their concerns and we’ve been able to put support in place.”As for the game itself, Carey said that Australia A would be fighting especially hard to win the three-day match, in doing so achieving the dual goals of setting back the Pakistani tourists ahead of the Tests and also setting the home side’s players up for the season.”It’s a pink-ball game, it’s under lights, Pakistan are here for a big summer, so it’s a great opportunity for myself, the boys that are playing this game, to start the international summer really strongly,” Carey said. “Experience the lights, the pink ball, the stadium, it’s a new experience for some of us and exciting to get out there.”The beauty of this team is it’s a really strong line-up, we’ve probably got four bowlers that can take the new ball and bowl throughout the day and Travis can bowl a few overs as well. We’re only here for a short week and it’s a really close group of players, a close group of guys, a strong team and we should be looking to put in a really good performance and hopefully win this game of cricket.”

Two-year deal extends 27-year association, as club legend focuses on 2nd XI development

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Nov-2019Marcus Trescothick will continue his 27-year association with Somerset after being unveiled as a full-time assistant coach.Trescothick, 43, made his Somerset debut in 1993, and retired from the playing staff at the end of the 2019 season, in which he made a final appearance as a substitute fielder during the club’s defeat in their Championship showdown against Essex at Taunton.He retired with a raft of club records, including the most first-class centuries (52) and the most List A runs (7374), and he also took a record 445 first-class catches in his lengthy career.He has now signed a two-year contract to become a fulltime Assistant Coach. His primary duty will be to assist the Second XI Head Coach, Greg Kennis, and work on the development of players who are hoping to establish themselves within the First XI.”I’m absolutely over the moon to have the opportunity to join the coaching set-up here at the Club and I can’t wait to get my teeth in to it,” said Trescothick.”I spent some time in and around the Second XI last season, so I’ve already spent some quality time with the younger players who have just come into the squad. To think that you might be able to help progress someone’s career is a great feeling and it’s something that I’m really looking forward to.”We have a great coaching set-up and I’ve obviously had the opportunity to tap into the expertise of the current coaches. I also did some work with England last year and hopefully I can use some of that knowledge to help benefit the club over the next few years.”Somerset Director of Cricket, Andy Hurry, said that “the name Marcus Trescothick is synonymous with Somerset Cricket”, and added that he would be given opportunities to work with the first XI in the course of the 2020 season, to pass on the experience gleaned from a hugely successful career that included 76 Tests and 123 ODIs between 2000 and 2006.”His knowledge of the game and what it means to represent this club are a valuable asset and one that we are delighted that we will be able to continue to tap in to,” said Hurry.”Within his job specification there will also be periodic opportunities during the summer for him to support the needs of those players within the current First XI environment.”During the winter he will work alongside the club’s coaches to help to advance our players development. He will also work on all facets of the development of our cricketers both on and off the field.”Head Coach, Jason Kerr said: “Myself and Andy Hurry have spent a long time looking at the structure of the club and discussing how we can best support the players. To be able to add someone like Marcus, with all of his experience, to the support staff is really exciting for us. What is great for us is that his coaching journey is in its infancy and he’s really hungry to learn.”Any decision like this is made with the best interests of the club in mind. We are excited to be aiding his coaching development and we will certainly be tapping into his knowledge to help support our young players.”The calibre and diversity of our support staff is really exciting, and it gives the players the best possible chance of success out there in the middle.”

Both teams are set to make their day-night Test debut, with Bangladesh’s backs firmly to the wall

The Preview by Alagappan Muthu21-Nov-20192:44

Star Sports: The making of the SG pink ball

Big Picture

Day-night Test cricket evokes two very different kind of reactions. For the fans, it is a moment to celebrate. Heck, the administrators are going all in. BCCI president Sourav Ganguly is personally overseeing everything at Eden Gardens. So if you’re loving the pretty pink balloon hovering over the ground, you know who to @.For the players themselves, it seems a little like stepping into the utterly unknown. A lot of people are saying a lot of things and all of it is about the way the pink ball will behave. Sachin Tendulkar says dew will affect it massively. Virat Kohli doesn’t know what will happen when the shine goes off. R Ashwin is already preparing to go big with his arm balls because it may not turn enough. Bangladesh’s batsmen, meanwhile, devoted a part of their training session to just watch the shiny little thing as it goes past them.The funny thing is day-night Test cricket has been around for four years now. Practically every other team has been part of the revolution. So there is information out there.ALSO READ: What’s the big deal with pink-ball TestsIn Indore, Bangladesh were way off the pace. In Kolkata, they need to make the most of every opportunity. The top order, which couldn’t handle the red ball, has to find a way to negotiate the pink one even though it swings way more. It’s the only way they’ll have set batsmen at the crease when it stops moving around. Because that might be the best time for Bangladesh to take advantage of the whole day-night situation – India would usually turn to their spinners at this point in a regular day Test, but if Ashwin’s suspicions are correct, not to mention Tendulkar’s warning about the dew, a very potent bowling attack with the old ball might end up short on answers.The only problem is it’s hard to picture all of India’s bowlers suddenly being negated just because of a change of ball. You’d think Ishant Sharma is too experienced not to adapt. You’d think Mohammed Shami will just bowl full and fast and straight and break every set of stumps in front of him. You’d think Ashwin will beat the batsman in the air if he can’t do them off the pitch.Virat Kohli has contingencies galore and an opposition already under the pump. If India get it right despite the unfamiliar playing conditions, this might not be pretty.1:35

Pink ball v red ball – Virat Kohli explains the difference

Form guide

India WWWWW (last five Tests, most recent first)
Bangladesh LLLLW

In the spotlight

Neither of the Bangladesh openers made more than 6 runs per innings in Indore. Under normal circumstances, one of Imrul Kayes and Shadman Islam might have given way for this Test match. Getting a good start is far too important, especially against stronger opposition, but the man who could have replaced them is out injured. Saif Hassan hurt his hand while taking a catch in Indore and it’s probably cost him an international debut on one of the more grand occasions. Kayes and Shadman are on borrowed time. They have to make use of it.R Ashwin is fun in front of the mic, especially when he’s apparently giving away his plans. During a home series against England in 2016, he seemed to have complete control of Ben Duckett, to the point he was predicting the batsman’s next moves. “I’m very sure he’s going to thrust his pad forward the next innings,” he said. “I’m looking forward to try and play on his confusion.” This time he fronted up on live TV and said he was focusing on the arm ball because the pink ball doesn’t really turn. It’s all set up for those big-turning offbreaks, isn’t it?

Team news

India had most bases covered in the first Test and might well stick with the same XI that beat Bangladesh by an innings and 130 runs.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Mayank Agarwal, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli (capt), 5 Ajinkya Rahane, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 9 R Ashwin, 9 Ishant Sharma, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Mohammed ShamiEden Garden gets ready for India’s inaugural pink-ball Test•Hindustan Times via Getty Images

Bangladesh are likely to bring in Mustafizur Rahman and Al-Amin Hossain in place of Taijul Islam and Ebadot Hossain. They don’t have any reserve batsmen to bring into the line-up, although indications are that Mushfiqur Rahim will go back up to the No. 4 position.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Shadman Islam, 2 Imrul Kayes, 3 Mominul Haque (capt), 4 Mushfiqur Rahim, 5 Mahmudullah, 6 Mohammad Mithun, 7 Liton Das (wk), 8 Mehidy Hasan, 9 Taijul Islam/Mustafizur Rahman, 10 Abu Jayed, 11 Ebadot Hossain/Al-Amin Hossain

Pitch and conditions

The pink ball is a fairly precious thing. Using one in a game means the pitch has to be a bit green and the outfield fairly lush. Otherwise it gets scuffed up and as a result hard to see when night sets in. That’s partly why seam bowlers have bowled twice as many overs and picked up nearly three times as many wickets as spinners in this version of Test cricket. Expect that to continue at Eden.The weather is set fair for all five days of the game.

Stats and trivia

• This Test is going to be all about fast bowling and that’s bad news for Bangladesh because theirs have the worst bowling average and strike rate in the last five years.
• Mayank Agarwal has made 858 runs since his debut in December 2018. That makes him the highest scorer in Test cricket over the last 11 months.