James Anderson feels new recruits Michael Lumb and Craig Kieswetter can help fire England to success at the World Twenty20 in West Indies

Cricinfo staff25-Apr-2010James Anderson feels new recruits Michael Lumb and Craig Kieswetter can help fire England to success at the World Twenty20 in West Indies. The duo are expected to open the batting as Andy Flower tries to find a combination that can take advantage of the fielding restrictions.If Lumb and Kieswetter are paired together when England face West Indies, in Guyana on May 3, they will become the 16th opening partnership in 26 matches which highlights the indecision that has accompanied the top-order planning. The fact that neither have played a T20 international is a risk, but they impressed Flower when the England Lions beat the full team in Dubai in February and Kieswetter was immediately promoted to the ODI team.”They’re new to the team and they could bring a fearless element to the top of the order,” Anderson told reporters ahead of the team’s departure from Gatwick. “Michael’s been out in the IPL so he’s got a lot of Twenty20 experience and they could bring some excitement to the top of the order.”England have disappointed in the two World Twenty20 tournaments so far having failed to reach the semi-finals in both events but they have made good progress in recent times, drawing with South Africa and Pakistan during their recent tours. Anderson thinks this experience gives them confidence that they can succeed in the tournament.”We go into every tournament thinking we can win it and wanting to win it,” he said. “We had a good tour of Dubai and a good [ODI] series in Bangladesh so if we can gel together as a team I see no reason why we can’t win it.”Having opted out of England’s Bangladesh tour because of a long-standing knee problem, Anderson has played in both of Lancashire Championship wins at the start of the season, starring with nine wickets in the victory against Essex.”It was good to get back into some cricket. The knee feels pretty good and excited to be going to the Caribbean,” he said. “[Twenty20] is a non-stop game – you’ve got to be running round for three hours solid. I’m pretty confident the knee is going to be fine. I got through the Championship games without any pain.”

South Africa’s tour shifts a gear with the first Test at Port of Spain in Trinidad, but the disparity in current form between the two sides suggests that the hosts’ struggle for a positive result could become even harder in the longer format

The Preview by Liam Brickhill09-Jun-2010

Match facts

Thursday June 10 – 14, 2010
Start time 10.00am (14.00GMT)

Big Picture

Jacques Kallis has found West Indies’ attack very much to his liking in 21 Tests against them so far•AFP

South Africa’s tour shifts a gear with the first Test at Port of Spain in Trinidad, but the disparity in current form between the two sides suggests that the hosts’ struggle for a positive result could become even harder in the longer format. The South African team is even stronger in Tests than it is in one-day internationals, and after their 5-0 drubbing of a West Indian squad that seemed to have forgotten how to win in the one-day series, it appears that the coming contest will, if anything, be even more one-sided.West Indies are in disarray, with several important players either injured or out of form, morale at rock-bottom, and disciplinary issues once again coming to the fore. It’s hard to see how they could possibly turn things around in this series, but they will be hoping that the introduction of a couple of fresh faces to the team will help to spark a revival in their fortunes. Offspinner Shane Shillingford and fast bowler Nelon Pascal have been included in the squad, and Darren Bravo’s good form on the A tour to Bangladesh – he was Man of the Series in the tri-series leg of the tour – lead to his call-up for the final three one-day games against the visitors. He wasn’t quite able to carry his form over, making 63 runs in three innings – including an unbeaten 45 in the fourth ODI in Dominica, but he, at least, has recent runs under his belt.Brendan Nash didn’t reach 100 in the unofficial Test series against Bangladesh A, but was dismissed only once in four innings on the tour. His obdurate occupation of the crease could be a vital buffer between Chris Gayle’s fireworks, Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s steely accumulation, and a vulnerable lower middle order, especially in the absence of Ramnaresh Sarwan through injury.The emphasis on occupation of the crease, rather than the pressure of trying to score runs quickly, could allow some South African players that have not been in the greatest touch on the tour so far, such as Graeme Smith and, to a lesser extent, JP Duminy to get back into the groove.South Africa have clearly been a class apart from their opponents on this tour, particularly in their batting. The West Indies batsmen haven’t displayed the application and shot selection necessary to compile big scores, as is evidenced by the disparity in the number of fifties and hundreds scored between the two teams in their limited-overs games. West Indies desperately need a something positive out of this series, but they face a mountainous task to overcome a South African Test outfit that has settled on a successful combination.

Form guide (last five completed matches)

West Indies LDLLL
South Africa LWWDL

Watch out for…

Shivnarine Chanderpaul was the only batsman to perform with any consistency in the one-day series – albeit one slightly curtailed through injury for him – in making 157 runs in three innings at 52.33, including two half-centuries. He has also been the most reliable member of West Indies’ Test middle order for some time, and could be very tough for the South Africans to prise from the crease if he settles.Morne Morkel was South Africa’s bowler of the one-day series, picking up 11 wickets at just 15.90. The greater freedom given to fast bowlers in Tests, and the emphasis upon taking wickets, will only serve to emphasise the threat of his pace, bounce and menace, and he could well prove too much for a batting line-up that has already been traumatised by seven losses on the trot on South Africa’s tour.

Team news

West Indies get to try out another set of combinations as the first of three Tests get underway, although injury has ruled Sarwan, Jerome Taylor, Adrian Barath and Fidel Edwards out of West Indies’ plans. Travis Dowlin, who managed a half-century opening the batting against Australia in December, will slot in at the top of the order, while Brendan Nash will reclaim his place in the middle order. Narsingh Deonarine also managed some runs against Australia, as well as reasonable success in the ODI leg of South Africa’s tour, and should get a look in. If Chris Gayle and Sulieman Benn haven’t yet made up, Shane Shillingford could debut as the spinning option.West Indies (probable) 1 Chris Gayle (capt), 2 Travis Dowlin, 3 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 4 Darren Bravo, 5 Brendan Nash, 6 Dwayne Bravo (vice-capt), 7 Denesh Ramdin, 8 Darren Sammy, 9 Sulieman Benn/Shane Shillingford, 10 Kemar Roach, 11 Ravi Rampaul.The main contentious position in South Africa’s line-up is at No. 6, with Ashwell Prince and JP Duminy both vying for the position. Prince has recent first-class experience with Lancashire, but with South Africa highly unlikely to play both Paul Harris and Johan Botha, the added bonus of Duminy’s bowling could settle the question. The variation offered by Lonwabo Tsotsobe’s left-arm seamers mean he will probably get in ahead of allrounder and right-arm seamer Ryan McLaren, assuming Wayne Parnell does not recover from injury in time .South Africa (probable) 1 Graeme Smith, 2 Alviro Petersen, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 AB de Villiers, 5 Hashim Amla, 6 Ashwell Prince/JP Duminy, 7 Mark Boucher, 8 Paul Harris, 9 Dale Steyn, 10 Morne Morkel, 11 Lonwabo Tsotsobe

Pitch and conditions

There should be life in this pitch for both fast and slow bowlers, although recently it has been particularly helpful to the spinners. It was here that Zimbabwe’s battery of spinners kept West Indies to 79 for 7 in a Twenty20, and the last time a Test was played here – against England in March last year – spinners took 14 wickets in the match. The weather forecast is not good, however, and there is a good chance of interruptions until Sunday.

Stats and Trivia

• The last time these two sides meant in a Test match at this venue, in 2005, Makhaya Ntini bowled South Africa to an eight-wicket win with 13 wickets in the match. West Indies’ last Test here was against England last year, when the hosts just managed to cling on for a series-clinching draw.
• Jacques Kallis has plundered 2073 runs in 21 Tests against West Indies at an average of 74.03, including seven hundreds and 11 fifties.

Quotes

“Losing has become a habit, but we have to put that behind us and look forward to the Test series.”

“Winning is a habit, and when you get into tight games, and you are used to winning, you are able to limp over the line.”

Nuwan Kulasekara found the perfect lines and lengths for the slow and low track that the USA has dished out, and ripped the heart out of New Zealand’s batting

The Bulletin by Sidharth Monga23-May-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outNuwan Kulasekara troubled the New Zealand top order with three wickets in his first over•Associated Press

Nuwan Kulasekara found the perfect lines and lengths for the slow and low track that the USA has dished out, and ripped the heart out of New Zealand’s batting with three wickets in his first over. Although Daniel Vettori and Nathan McCullum, the only New Zealanders to reach double figures, avoided the ignominy of the lowest total in Twenty20 internationals, 81 was never going to test Sri Lanka even on this pitch.The win was set up by Kulasekara’s first two overs, three wickets in the first and no runs in the second. He made the necessary adjustments from the first match: everything was stump to stump, slightly short of a length, and offcutters were bowled aplenty. That the innings started with Kumar Sangakkara standing up to the stumps, with no slip in sight, said a lot about the pitch. It didn’t help New Zealand that their top-order batsmen were looking to play around their front pad, and the bowlers were hardly missing. There was no bounce in the pitch to take anything over the stumps either.Aaron Redmond and Rob Nicol both fell to ones that Kulasekara got to jag in sharply. Brendon McCullum got a beauty in between those dismissals, this one holding its line. Ross Taylor, in the next over, played across the line to Angelo Mathews and paid the price. Gareth Hopkins, in to replace the injured Martin Guptill, went for an ill-advised single, and many dubious records were in sight.Crisis man Vettori, though, found support from the older McCullum, and the two batted sensibly to add 45 for the sixth wicket. Neither of them looked to play across the line, both waited for the loose deliveries, which were rare. One of them was a full delivery from Mathews in the seventh over, which McCullum punched down the ground for the first boundary of the innings. Vettori hit two more boundaries, both cleverly played reverse-sweeps against Sanath Jayasuriya.The partnership came to an end when Vettori swept at Ajantha Mendis, and the fielding side and the umpire took the noise emanating for an edge. Vettori, though, demonstrated the exact spot on the pitch his bat had hit, which created the incriminating sound.When McCullum square-cut Thissara Perera through the fingers of Tillakaratne Dilshan in the 16th over, the only other boundary of the piece, the score moved to 76, two more than the lowest total by a major team. Even though McCullum kept New Zealand fighting, the lower order found full and straight bowling from Lasith Malinga too much, securing New Zealand’s smallest total in the format.In the chase, Sri Lanka were hardly under any pressure, especially after Mahela Jayawardene got them going with a 12-ball 17. During his stay in the middle, batting looked at its easiest on this pitch not conducive to attractive cricket. Perera was sent in at the first drop, and he did his job by hitting two fours and a six in his 25 even as Dilshan struggled for timing. Those two cameos were enough, though, to set the chase up, and Dilshan saw them through.

New Sahara Pune Warriors coach Geoff Marsh has said he would like to see all the players go into the auction for IPL 4

Cricinfo staff06-Jul-2010New Sahara Pune Warriors coach Geoff Marsh has said he would like to see all the players go into the auction ahead of the fourth season of the IPL because any retention of players would put the new franchises at a disadvantage.”We at Sahara are very keen that retention be done away with and all players go into an open auction pool,” Marsh told . “If this doesn’t happen we will have to start at a disadvantage. Allowing franchises to retain players will place us in great difficulty in fielding a competitive team and can even impact upon the standard of the tournament.”The BCCI is aware of Sahara’s preference and Marsh was confident the board will consider “the principle of fair play” and abandon the retention policy. Marsh also said the BCCI was considering a proposal to fix an upper limit for the number of matches each player can play to reduce the risk of burnout. But whether the board decides to fix a limit or not, Sahara will introduce a rotation policy for its team.”Rotation is surely something we will follow,” Marsh said. “There have been many squads where players haven’t got a chance to play and this has often resulted in discord. Even international players haven’t been given enough matches. If you follow a carefully crafted rotation policy you can surely reduce the possibility of burnout.”That being said, the primary cause of player fatigue, according to Marsh, was not the number of matches being played but the hectic travel schedule dictated by the IPL. A more rational schedule would therefore go a long way towards reducing the stress on the players. “Normally players practice three hours a day and a Twenty20 match is only three hours of effort in the middle. So, more than the matches, careful and well thought scheduling can reduce the possibility of burnout.”Marsh, a former Australian opener, was appointed coach of the Sahara Pune Warriors on Monday. Marsh’s coaching credentials include overseeing Australia’s march to the title in the 1999 World Cup and being in charge of Zimbabwe between 2001 and 2004. He will be assisted by former England allrounder Dermot Reeve, whose most recent assignment was a year coaching New Zealand’s Twenty20 champions Central Districts.

Yorkshire moved back to the top of Group B in the Clydesdale Bank 40 with a thumping five-wicket win over Holland

01-Aug-2010
Scorecard
Yorkshire moved back to the top of Group B in the Clydesdale Bank 40 with a thumping five-wicket win over Holland. They were in control from the moment captain Andrew Gale elected to bowl first after winning the toss in Schiedam.Tim Bresnan was the first to strike. In only the sixth over he removed Eric Szwarczynski for 4 and Michael Dighton for 14 to reduce the Dutch to 26 for 2. Then, after Ajmal Shahzad had clean-bowled Tom Cooper for 12, Rich Pyrah began his assault on the hosts. Finishing with season-best figures of 4 for 24, he struck twice in the 12th over to leave Holland five down.Dutch captain Peter Borren was his first victim, when he lost his off stump for 7, before Bresnan caught Wesley Barresi at midwicket only three balls later for 9. Pyrah then picked up his third wicket in his next over as the hosts continued to struggle, when Mudassar Bukhari was caught behind by Gerard Brophy for 2.At this stage the hosts were 64 for 6, but Adil Rashid made sure there would be no imminent fightback as he helped himself to figures of 2 for 28. Pieter Seelaar was his first victim, trapped lbw for 12 in the 28th over, before Bas Zuiderent fell in the same manner for 19 only six overs later.It meant that Holland had been reduced to 101 for 8 in the 34th over, but some late runs at least made their final total respectable. Maurits Jonkman led them, with an unbeaten 25, but Adeel Raja, who made 19, and Bernard Loots, who finished on 13 not out, were also impressive. Together they added 53 runs from the last 41 balls to help Holland close on 154 for 9 from their 40 overs.However, with an asking rate of only 3.8 an over, Yorkshire were quickly into their stride through openers Gale and Jacques Rudolph. The two of them added 41 for the first wicket, until Rudolph skied one to Seelaar at midwicket off Loots for six. That ended the partnership, and with only one more run being added Gale was also out off Jonkman for 32.Anthony McGrath was next out, making only eight before being trapped lbw by Borren, and when Adam Lyth was caught off the same man by Barresi for 23, Yorkshire were in trouble.However, Brophy, who made 25 before being ousted by Seelaar, and Jonathan Bairstow, who made an unbeaten 46, then embarked on a 59-run partnership to help see Yorkshire home.
Tim Bresnan was also there at the close, on 5, but it was Bairstow who hit the winning runs with 24 balls to spare.

Mark Cosgrove and Ben Wright struck entertaining half-centuries but Glamorgan failed to build on a useful platform on the first day of their County Championship match against Worcestershire at Colwyn Bay

09-Aug-2010

ScorecardMark Cosgrove and Ben Wright struck entertaining half-centuries but Glamorgan failed to build on a useful platform on the first day of their County Championship match against Worcestershire at Colwyn Bay. Glamorgan ended the day on 319 for 9, with captain Jamie Dalrymple also scoring 56, but that was after they had been 100 without loss and then 242 for
3.After the Welsh county won the toss Cosgrove made a typically positive start as he and Gareth Rees shared in their fourth opening century stand of the championship campaign. On a slow pitch Cosgrove was the dominant partner, contributing 74 of the century partnership either side of a 75-minute break for heavy rain, which included an early lunch.But Worcestershire did launch a fightback with the home side slipping from 100 for 0 to 145 for 3 in 12 overs. Rees, who had batted for an hour and 44 minutes for his 25, inside-edged seamer
Richard Jones behind.Five overs later fellow opener Cosgrove, who had accrued 62 of his 84 in boundaries including a straight six off Jones, danced down the wicket to Bangladesh slow left-armer Shakib Al Hasan and was stumped. Worcestershire’s first bowling point arrived when Tom Maynard, who was dropped at short-leg on 10, edged a regulation catch to wicketkeeper Ben Cox off Alan
Richardson.But Glamorgan’s mini-slump was halted by Wright and Dalrymple in a 97-run alliance for the fourth wicket. Like Cosgrove in the first-wicket partnership, Wright dominated affairs,
supplying 72 from 91 balls with 11 fours and a six.But again Glamorgan proceeded to lose a cluster of three wickets. Wright edged a swinging delivery from James Cameron to Daryl Mitchell at slip, James Allenby struck a Matt Mason leg-stump half-volley to square leg where Alexei Kervezee took a sharp catch low down and then Mark Wallace edged Jones to Vikram Solanki at first slip.It was a slump which saw the Welsh county go from 242 for 3 to 280 for 6, and much then depended on Dalrymple, who went to his third half-century of the season from 110 balls. But despite taking Glamorgan past 300 he played on, giving Mason his 299th first-class victim. That was after Robert Croft had given a bat-and-pad catch to short-leg off Shakib.David Harrison was out two overs before the close but last pair Dean Cosker and Huw Waters survived until the end to ensure Glamorgan would bat again on the second morning.

Craig Kieswetter hit his highest County Championship score of the season as Somerset moved into a strong position against Lancashire at Taunton

08-Sep-2010
ScorecardCraig Kieswetter formed the centrepiece to Somerset’s innings•Getty Images

Craig Kieswetter hit his highest County Championship score of the season as Somerset moved into a strong position against Lancashire at Taunton. The England one-day international made 84 off 80 balls, with nine fours and a six, to help his side to 350 for 8 – a lead of 91 runs, by the time heavy rain ended play an hour early.Gary Keedy took five for 81 to reduce the home side to 276 for eight before an unbroken stand of 74 between Ben Phillips (29 not out) and Murali Kartik (37 not out) took Somerset to a fourth batting point.The hosts began the day on 54 for 1 and lost Arul Suppiah without adding to his overnight score of 13 as he edged a catch to wicketkeeper Gareth Cross off Tom Smith. It was 71 for 3 when night-watchman Alfonso Thomas was bowled playing across a delivery from Sajid Mahmood and batting was looking far from easy.Nick Compton and James Hildreth had to play watchfully to take the total to 128 and seemed to have done the hard work when Hildreth fell lbw for 26 trying to sweep Keedy. It was 133 for 4 at lunch with Compton unbeaten on 41. He had added eight to his score in the afternoon session when looking unlucky to be judged lbw playing well forward to Luke Procter.Kieswetter and Peter Trego (51) then ensured Somerset of first innings lead with some typically positive batting in a sixth-wicket stand of 111 in 21 overs. Trego, fresh from his first one-day century at the weekend, moved to fifty with a swept boundary off Simon Kerrigan, having faced 66 balls and hit seven fours.Then a momentary lapse in concentration saw him fall lbw to Keedy pushing forward and Somerset were only 12 runs ahead when Jos Buttler went leg-before first ball on his 20th birthday. Kieswetter had produced some superb strokes, including a six over wide long-off off Keedy, and some meaty leg-side blows.But in the latter part of his innings he began to play more one-day shots and that cost him his wicket as he was caught behind opening the face to the left-arm spinner. Keedy appeared to have ripped the heart out of the Somerset batting, but Lancashire took the new ball when Kartik joined Phillips and both played above their lowly positions in the batting order.Neither gave a chance as they gradually built on the slender advantage. Kartik hit a six over long-off and Phillips a straight six in the same Kerrigan over as their important partnership blossomed.

Leicestershire sent Gloucestershire spinning to an emphatic 329-run defeat at Grace Road, claiming the five wickets they needed for victory in 46 overs for the addition of 80 runs

10-Sep-2010
ScorecardLeicestershire sent Gloucestershire spinning to an emphatic 329-run defeat at Grace Road, claiming the five wickets they needed for victory in 46 overs for the addition of 80 runs.
Spinners Claude Henderson and Jigar Naik took four of the wickets and 19-year-old seamer Nathan Buck sealed the win by having last man Anthony Ireland caught at slip 40 minutes before tea.Buck finished with 3 for 25 to give him match figures of 6 for 72. It was Leicestershire’s sixth win of the season and the 21 points they claimed lifted them above Gloucestershire in the Division Two table.Gloucestershire, who resumed the final day on 78 for 5, still 410 runs behind, were all out for 158 with the only resistance coming from James Franklin and Ed Young, who shared a stubborn seventh-wicket stand of 63 spread across 28 overs. But when 38-year-old left-arm spinner Henderson had Franklin caught off bat and pad by Matthew Boyce for 31 it signalled the end for Gloucestershire, with their last four wickets falling for just seven runs.The biggest worry for Leicestershire was the unsettled weather. Early morning rain delayed the start by 45 minutes and another shower sent the players off again after an hour’s play for an early lunch. There was a further brief interruption at the start of the afternoon session before Leicestershire clinched the victory they thoroughly deserved.The home side had the perfect start to the final day when Alex Gidman, having added only one run to his overnight 28, dragged the ball back into his stumps trying to cut a delivery from Henderson. But that proved to be Leicestershire’s last success for some time as Franklin and Young showed plenty of determination and application to keep them at bay for 28 overs.Franklin’s departure triggered the collapse, though, with Jon Lewis lbw to Naik and then Young beaten and bowled by a superb flighted delivery from the same bowler. And when Buck had Ireland well caught by Greg Smith at slip, Leicestershire had claimed the victory that always looked on the cards for them. Henderson finished with figures of 3 for 62 in 34 overs and Naik with 3 for 35 off 25 overs.Gloucestershire took only three points from the match to end their slim hopes of challenging for a promotion spot.

India Blue rose to the pressure of a must-win game with a flawless performance to upstage India Green and set up a final showdown against the same opposition on Monday

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Oct-2010
ScorecardIndia Blue rose to the pressure of a must-win game with a flawless performance to upstage India Green and set up a final showdown against the same opposition on Monday. Shikhar Dhawan struck a century, while Ajinkya Rahane continued his consistent run with 95 to set Green a target of 321. S Badrinath’s side, who had already booked their place in the final with a bonus-point win against Red, slumped to a massive defeat as their chase fizzled out under lights.India Blue’s innings began in disastrous fashion when Shreevats Goswami departed in the opening over, run-out without facing a ball. That was the only success India Green experienced for a while, as Dhawan and Rahane set about their task with gusto. Dhawan got going with a brace of boundaries in the second over from Pankaj Singh, before going after Abhimanyu Mithun in the fifth. Rahane found his range with three crisp boundaries off Jaskaran Singh and a pulled six of Mithun as Blue raced past 50 in the seventh over.Having sized up the conditions to perfection, the pair settled down for the long haul. Good placement and a spate of singles and twos followed, interspersed with boundaries, as the spin trio of Sarabjit Ladda, R Ashwin and Rohit Sharma struggled to check the runs. Mithun’s reintroduction in the 35th over ended the stand on 193, Rahane trapped in front five short of a ton. There was to be no denying Dhawan though, as he pulled Mithun to bring up three figures and celebrated with another loft over mid-on for four. Yuvraj took the batting Powerplay, and though Dhawan departed without capitalising on the restriction, the captain, and later Manoj Tiwary exacted full toll. Jaskaran, Pankaj and Mithun all came in for some tap as Tiwary blitzed 46 off 27 to take the total well past 300.Naman Ojha began the pursuit with two boundaries in the second over, but Umesh Yadav trapped him in front with the sixth ball. India Green then struggled to find the boundaries and Badrinath’s exit against the sharp RP Singh killed their momentum further. The aggressive firm of Srikkanth Anirudha and Robin Uthappa also failed to make an impact, and at 61 for 4 after 15 overs, India Green were in need of a massive repair job. Rohit briefly promised before Yuvraj got him to offer a return catch. With the tank running quickly out of gas, Kedar Jadhav kept trying with 71, but Yo Mahesh, with support from the rest of the attack, brought down the shutters in the 42nd over.

MS Dhoni, the India captain, has said he will request the BCCI for some rest ahead of the tour of South Africa

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Nov-2010MS Dhoni, the India captain, has said he will request the BCCI for some rest ahead of the tour of South Africa. India have had a busy schedule since the tour of Sri Lanka earlier in the year and Dhoni said players like himself and Suresh Raina haven’t had a break. India play a five-match ODI series against New Zealand, their last international assignment ahead of the South Africa tour, and if Dhoni’s request is accepted, he could likely be rested for that series.”If you look at the schedule players like myself and Suresh Raina have been playing non-stop cricket since the Sri Lanka tour,” Dhoni told reporters in Nagpur on the eve of the third Test against New Zealand. “We went to play in the Champions League after that and came back and played the Australia and the New Zealand series.”So there has not been enough time to switch on and switch off. We will put in a request to the board but we have to see whether senior players are available or not.”The BCCI, last month, had agreed to send some players early to South Africa to prepare for the Test series in December due to the absence of any practice games. Dhoni said the details still had to be “worked out”. The first Test begins on December 16.