West Indies allrounder Marlon Samuels has been banned from bowling in international cricket for 12 months after his action was found to be illegal for a second time since December 2013

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Dec-2015West Indies allrounder Marlon Samuels has been banned from bowling in international cricket for 12 months after his action was found to be illegal for a second time since December 2013. The offspinner’s action can be reassessed by the ICC only after this period is complete.Samuels, who was prohibited from bowling quicker deliveries in 2013, was reported for a suspect action in October, during the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle. Samuels underwent an independent assessment in Brisbane which revealed that his elbow extension exceeded the permitted 15-degree limit. Incidentally, the ICC had allowed Samuels to bowl in an ODI in November, after the 14-day grace period for reported bowlers had expired, on the grounds that the West Indies team was “incorrectly advised” about his eligibility.”As this report constitutes the player’s second suspension within a two-year period, he is now automatically suspended from bowling in international cricket for a 12-month period,” an ICC release stated. “Samuels is entitled to appeal any procedural aspect of the Independent Assessment that has led to this automatic suspension. However, only after the expiry of this one-year period will he be entitled to approach the ICC for a re-assessment of his bowling action.”Samuels was reported for the third time in his career in October. In 2008, he was called for a suspect faster ball after the third Test against South Africa in Durban. He was later suspended from bowling in international cricket but after remedial work on his action, was permitted to bowl in September 2011.He was reported once again at the end of the second day of the second Test against India in Mumbai in November 2013. He was subsequently allowed to bowl the offbreak delivery but not his quicker ball.Samuels is the third bowler to be banned from bowling in international cricket by the ICC in 2015. Sunil Narine was suspended in November due to an illegal action. Like Samuels, Pakistan’s Mohammad Hafeez was handed a 12-month ban by the ICC in July, after his action was found to be illegal for a second time since November 2014.

With Mitchell Marsh returning and John Hastings difficult to leave out following an excellent display at the Gabba, Australia face the prospect of squeezing three seam-bowling allrounders into their MCG line-up

Brydon Coverdale16-Jan-20161:32

‘Strange for me to hit 140kph’ – Hastings

During the World Cup last year, Australia’s selectors found it hard to fit James Faulkner and Mitchell Marsh into the same line-up, viewing the two allrounders as bringing similar qualities to the XI. Now they face the prospect of squeezing three pace-bowling allrounders into the ODI outfit, with John Hastings having impressed in the win over India in Brisbane, where he replaced the resting Marsh.Of course, during the World Cup there was also a need to fit Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson and Josh Hazlewood in; Johnson is now retired, Starc is recovering from an ankle injury, and Hazlewood is being rested for the remainder of the summer. It is much less of a stretch to drop one of Kane Richardson, Joel Paris or Scott Boland to accommodate the three allrounders.That is the scenario for the upcoming third ODI on Sunday in Melbourne, where Marsh rejoins the squad and presumably will walk straight back into the XI alongside Faulkner. At the Gabba, Hastings put up a strong case for his retention by taking 1 for 46 from eight overs on a pitch offering very little, and captain Steven Smith was rewarded for trusting Hastings with the 50th over, which cost only four runs.”I thought the way that he bowled was excellent,” Aaron Finch said after the win. “He bowled at some difficult times. Rohit [Sharma] and Virat [Kohli] were batting beautifully through that period when John got the ball for the first time and … the way that he’s got his cutters going – legcutters, offcutters, seam-up, cross-seam – I think that he’s a really attractive package for the one-day game.”Should Hastings keep his place at the MCG it will be quite a vote of confidence given he was added only after the Perth win and would be taking the place of one of the original squad members. But Australia’s selectors have shown their willingness in recent times to stack the team with allrounders, and the pace depth is being tested in any case.”There’s a lot of injuries in Australian cricket, most of our express bowlers are out,” Hastings said after arriving in Melbourne on Saturday. “James Faulkner has got a really unique skill-set, Mitch Marsh has got another unique skill-set, and I offer something different as well. I think there’s definitely scope for it … I think it can work.”During the Gabba ODI Hastings even broke the 140kph barrier, unusually quick by his standards, though in white-ball cricket it is his variations that make him an attractive bowling prospect. Hastings said Australia’s attack deserved credit for restricting India to 75 runs for the loss of six wickets in their last 10 overs on a pitch that offered very little for the bowlers.”It was probably on the slower side of a Gabba wicket that I’ve seen for quite some time,” he said. “But there just wasn’t any sideways movement or receptiveness to gripping slower balls or cross-seam deliveries. There just wasn’t much there. For us to pull it back like we did, I think the bowling group really needs to have a pat on the back for that, because they were two down going into the last ten overs, you can really get anything.”

Among the more sweeping of the Lodha committee’s recommendations is a players’ association, intended as a “necessary” mechanism for addressing player concerns

Arun Venugopal04-Jan-20163:27

Joshi: Players’ association not just for collective bargaining

Among the more sweeping of the Lodha committee’s recommendations is a players’ association, intended as a “necessary” mechanism for addressing player concerns. It would be radical because India is the only Test-playing nation not to have a players’ association – and has not contemplated one in the recent past. The BCCI has historically opposed the idea and two earlier attempts have come to naught; this latest venture, if mandated, will be financed by the board and comprise only those players who have retired from competitive cricket in all forms.

Stricter rules for player agents

The Lodha Committee has proposed a rigorous system for a person to be accredited as a player agent, who will be monitored by the BCCI in conjunction with the players’ association.
1. An applicant needs to submit a clearance certificate issued by the ICC ACSU, and must not have any criminal record
2. There should no conflict of interest or dual representation
3. A player agent is required to undertake that he will charge no more than a maximum agent fee of 2% of the total annual revenue earned
4. The five-member committee on agent regulation will have powers to initiate disciplinary proceedings against agents

The committee has appointed a four-member standing committee, comprising former union home secretary GK Pillai (chairperson) and former India cricketers Mohinder Amarnath, Anil Kumble and former India women captain Diana Edulji, to “identify and invite all eligible ex-cricketers to be members, to open bank accounts, receive funds from the BCCI, conduct the first elections for office bearers, communicate the names of BCCI player nominees to the board.”The committee, having taken note of the BCCI’s “apprehension of unionisation”, has deemed it important to give the players “a voice to raise their concerns” while barring them from forming a “trade union of any sort.” It recommends the need to advance the welfare of players, including insurance, medical and other commercial benefits.In the early 2000s, a group of players, including MAK Pataudi (president), Arun Lal (secretary), Anil Kumble, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Ravi Shastri and Abbas Ali Baig were the founding members of a players’ association, but that eventually served as no more than a means to the end of player contracts.”The BCCI would tell the senior players ‘we will give you what you want, why do you need an association?’,” a source privy to the formation of the association then told ESPNcricinfo. “They would talk to Ganguly, Dravid, Tendulkar and Kumble as senior players but not as representatives of a players’ association.”He said there was an effort to organise a body under Kapil Dev as the president in the late 80s as well to put forward genuine concerns. “Playing cricket was not a career then. Ranji Trophy cricketers would only get Rs 50 a day to play a match. This was not [an attempt to get] a larger share of the pie, it’s just genuine concerns.”The source said the board always looked at players’ associations as “anti-establishment” bodies, and would discourage them overtly and covertly. “Everybody didn’t join because they were scared. I don’t blame them. If my state association secretary warns me against joining such an association, how will I dare join then?”Former India fast bowler Javagal Srinath felt the players’ association was a greater responsibility of the players than the board. “It’s up to the boys,” he said. “At that time we felt there was a need for all of us to come together. We started cricket as a profession [for the first time]. Anything of that sort is always a start and stop kind of thing in India.”Even if it was started by someone there have to be reasons for players to see what could be achieved from players’ association.”The source, however, felt the senior players in the early 2000s didn’t carry forward the early momentum that was achieved. “It’s also the fault of the players because you start something with conviction and you don’t follow it through,” he said. “They were the power base at the time and owed it to the next generation to carry it through.”The BCCI was willing to help out as long as you approached them as players and not as players’ association representatives. The best way to kill an association is give them what they want so that there is no need for one for a while, and it dies a natural death.”Srinath, though, was of the belief the time was ripe for such an association to come into being, given that players have a more professional outlook.”Cricket has taken such a big professional dimension in India. It will be good for the game, the board and the players,” he said. “I think more than addressing the rights, it’s players coming under the umbrella, players starting to accept various contracts.”It’s just not about fighting for your rights alone, because most things are taken care of. The odd incident has to be customised, but I don’t think any player is put under any financial discomfort. “A BCCI official took a contrarian view and suggested that the creation of such associations would encourage politicisation and politicking among players.”Such politics is already there in the BCCI and a lot of state associations, and you curse it day in and day out,” he said. “You will have a situation where this will happen among players as well. Why would you want that? Won’t these associations have control over players and create lobbies? In any case, the interests of the players have been traditionally looked after by the BCCI more than anybody else.”

Bottom-placed Tasmania added considerable tension to the race for the final by making a storming start to their match against the competition leaders Victoria at Bellerive Oval

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Feb-2016
ScorecardFile photo – Andrew Fekete took the key wickets of Travis Dean and Peter Handscomb•Getty Images

Bottom-placed Tasmania added considerable tension to the race for the Sheffield Shield final by making a storming start to their match against the competition leaders Victoria at Bellerive Oval.Sent in to bat, the Bushrangers were rolled for 165 on a pitch that offered some assistance to the seam bowlers, before Ben Dunk led the Tigers to a comfortable 2 for 115 at the close.With three rounds remaining, Victoria had been in comfortable possession of the first spot on the table, but the loss of regular wickets in Hobart offered hope for their pursuers.No Victoria batsman passed 30, with the sometime Australian pace prospect Andrew Fekete claiming the key wickets of Travis Dean and Peter Handscomb.Tasmania shared the spoils, including a three-wicket burst for the part-time off breaks of Beau Webster and another trio of wickets for the seamers of Hamish Kingston.Chris Tremain found a way past Tim Paine and Webster when Tasmania batted, before Dunk played sweetly with sound support from Alex Doolan to take the hosts within 50 runs of a first innings lead.

Kings XI Punjab will be keen to put a disappointing 2015 behind them as they start a new season, under a new captain, with a home game against a new team in Gujarat Lions

The Preview by Nikhil Kalro10-Apr-2016

Match facts

Monday, April 11, 2016
Start time 2000 local (14.30 GMT)

Big picture

Kings XI Punjab’s previous two seasons have represented the travails of the stock market. With nine totals of 170 or more and a runner-up culmination, 2014 was their bull market. The weight of the bear was too much in the next year as Kings XI became the first team ruled out of a playoff spot. The team released their captain George Bailey, their non-performing asset, and appointed as his successor David Miller, who has led only three times in his 189-match T20 career. With only four fifties since 2015, Miller’s own form has come under scrutiny. Having played 34 matches for the franchise since 2014, he should know all about their ups and downs.Bailey’s departure opens up an overseas playing slot and Shaun Marsh is the leading candidate. Unlike previous seasons, Kings XI will not face the dilemma of wanting to accommodate this highly consistent performer while not being able to.Gujarat Lions come into the contest with none of the baggage that their opposition have. A formidable foreign talent pool is their biggest strength and the Indian contingent, despite containing 12 uncapped players, possesses plenty of IPL experience. Brendon McCullum and Aaron Finch, unburdened after international retirement and being relieved of T20 captaincy respectively, can fire away in the Powerplay. With end-overs specialists in Dwayne Bravo and James Faulkner and new-ball operators in Praveen Kumar, Dale Steyn and Dhawal Kulkarni, Lions have most bases covered. With a number of permutations available to them, how quickly can the new franchise figure out their best combination?

In the spotlight

Glenn Maxwell had a disastrous 2015 campaign, scoring 145 runs in 11 matches at an average of 13.18. Much of Kings XI’s success has been dependent on his pyrotechnics. That is unlikely to change this season, and their opening game, at home, is as good an opportunity as any for Maxwell to remind everyone of the force he was in 2014.Lions’ allrounders – Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo and James Faulkner – are all capable of bowling their quota and providing impetus towards the end overs with the bat. They also lend depth and balance to the team, allowing the top order to bat with more freedom. Clearing the large square boundaries in Mohali will be a hard task, particularly against Bravo and Faulkner’s slower deliveries.

Team news

With Marsh likely to return to the opening slot, Kings XI’s four overseas players look set for a long run, barring injury or drastic loss of form. Mohali isn’t known to offer too much turn, which means Axar Patel should mostly be the solitary spinner with Maxwell and Gurkeerat Singh as back-up options.Kings XI Punjab (probable): 1 M Vijay, 2 Shaun Marsh, 3 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 David Miller (capt), 6 Gurkeerat Singh, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Sandeep Sharma, 10 Mohit Sharma, 11 Anureet SinghLions have a good selection headache. Given the options at their disposal, they could take a horses-for-courses approach to decide between Finch, Dwayne Smith and Steyn for the final overseas player’s slot.Gujarat Lions (probable): 1 Brendon McCullum , 2 Aaron Finch, 3 Ishan Kishan (wk), 4 Suresh Raina (capt), 5 Dinesh Karthik, 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 James Faulkner, 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 Praveen Kumar, 10 Pravin Tambe, 11 Dhawal Kulkarni

Pitch and conditions

The Mohali pitch was batsman friendly during the World T20, without much assistance for the spinners. Hitting a good length, or just back of a length, could be the way to go given the long square boundaries, and fielders will have to be wary of twos and threes placed into large pockets in the outfield.

Stats and trivia

• Shaun Marsh is one of only four players who have represented the same franchise since the first IPL season, in 2008 – the others are Lasith Malinga, Harbhajan Singh and Virat Kohli.
• Kings XI have played 125 matches, winning 61 and losing 62, with two tied games

Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma has said he is likely to open for the remainder of the IPL season, ahead of their match against Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday

Nagraj Gollapudi in Kolkata12-Apr-20161:00

‘We can’t take any baggage with us as a team’ – Rohit

Just over a month ago, Rohit Sharma had scored an unbeaten 98 at Eden Gardens. It was in India’s first warm-up match of the World Twenty20, against West Indies. Incidentally, Rohit had made the same score at the same ground in last year’s IPL opener against Kolkata Knight Riders, who Mumbai Indians will face on Wednesday evening. Although Rohit had succeeded that day last year, Mumbai had failed. Eventually, they won the IPL with three Mumbai batsmen featuring among the top-10 run-scorers – Lendl Simmons, Rohit and Kieron Pollard.This IPL season is Pollard’s first competitive tournament since his knee surgery last year. In the tournament opener in Mumbai on April 9, Pollard struggled against Rising Pune Supergiants, labouring for eight balls to make just one run.Simmons, one of the heroes in West Indies’ triumph over India in the World T20 semi-finals, is now likely to be rested for the next few matches. He had originally dropped out of the West Indies squad due to a bad back, only to be flown in as a late replacement for the knockout matches.Ambati Rayudu, Hardik Pandya and England batsman Jos Buttler, playing his maiden IPL, form the Mumbai middle order, but it is difficult to imagine and expect them to play the lead batsman’s role in case the top order fails as it did against Supergiants.That leaves the onus on Rohit, the team’s best batsman and captain. T20 history is abundant with examples in which a good beginning often ensures a team defends a big or huge total. Rohit has been opening regularly for India in limited-overs matches since 2013. However, with Mumbai Indians he has not done the same. Last IPL, he opened only twice. This season, though, he has decided to open with a longer stint in mind.”It’s important to get the balance and the position of each player right, where they have batted for their country/state, it’s important to keep that going,” Rohit said on Tuesday. “For me, I’ve been opening for a while – three years now – so I’d like to continue that for the remainder of the series. But everything depends on the balance, if I feel me batting top of order is not right for the team, I’ll come down as a middle-order batsman. If it helps the team, I’m ready to do whatever it takes to help the team win.”According to Rohit, the Mumbai batting has depth, including batsmen who are proven matchwinners in international cricket. “We have to share the responsibility. I cannot be just one person winning the tournament,” Rohit said. “Last year, we hardly had anyone in the top five in the batting list which shows that everybody contributed and shared the responsibility. You will have individual performances and brilliance at times, but if you want to win the tournament, it has to come from everyone not just one person. In the last three years, we have had so much success because the responsibility was shared. I would expect the same, but as a leader, I would like to step up and perform every game.”Building momentum in the first half, especially in the first few matches, is what Mumbai coach Ricky Ponting has always said is the key to succeed in tournaments like IPL. Last year, Mumbai had a horrid first half. In order to not repeat the mistakes, Rohit and co. will have to play their roles convincingly.Mumbai have two IPL editions in the last three seasons – 2013 and 2015. And which Mumbai batsman was among the top-10 run-scorers in those two seasons? Rohit would once again like to lead from the front, although in a different role.

BCB president Nazmul Hassan has said that the board is in talks with former Pakistan fast bowler Aaqib Javed for the post of Bangladesh’s bowling coach

Mohammad Isam05-Jun-2016BCB president Nazmul Hassan has said the board is in talks with former Pakistan fast bowler Aaqib Javed for the post of Bangladesh’s bowling coach.”We are in touch with Aaqib Javed,” Hassan said. “Our CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury informed us that we will get an answer from him – yes or no – by day after tomorrow (Tuesday). We are also discussing if we can talk about the alternatives.”The position became vacant when Heath Streak decided not to continue as the bowling coach last month.Aaqib, who stepped down as the UAE coach in April, is also the director of cricket operations with Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League.So far, the BCB has been in discussions with three other candidates.

West Indies have made an unpromising start to their preparations for the tri-series with Australia and South Africa, as they were beaten twice in the space of three days by Barbados Select in a pair of practice matches

Daniel Brettig28-May-2016West Indies have made an unpromising start to their preparations for the tri-series against Australia and South Africa, as they were beaten twice in the space of three days by a Barbados Select XI in a pair of practice matches.Thrashed by 50 runs in a day-night encounter at the Kensington Oval on Wednesday, West Indies lost again by four wickets in Cave Hill on Friday. These were the first fixtures for the team since their World T20 victory in India, with the squad comprising of some T20 players mixed with younger names.While the main priority for the team was to gain match practice in a variety of conditions ahead of the tri-series, the fact that they were unable to defeat a side composed of some players with limited international experience and Barbados’ fringe players does not bode well for harder assignments ahead.In the first match, half-centuries from Shai Hope and Omar Phillips led the way for Barbados Select in compiling a tally of 290 for 8 from 50 overs. Offspinner Hayden Walsh (3 for 17) and seamers Kevin Stoute (2 for 28), Tarik Shorey (2 for 33) and Dario Seale (2 for 50) then rounded West Indies up for 250 in 47.1 overs.Conditions were lower and slower in Cave Hill, and West Indies scrapped their way to 200 for 9 from 45 overs after choosing to bat. No player was able to make a half-century, while medium-pacer Kyle Mayers scooped 4 for 47.In reply, Barbados Select cruised to the target with seven overs to spare, helped by 49 from Aaron Jones and 48 from Hope. West Indies’ opening match of the tournament is against South Africa in Guyana on June 3.

Denesh Ramdin, the West Indies wicketkeeper, has said he will have no choice but to accept the selectors’ supposed decision to keep him out of the Test squad for the upcoming series against India

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jul-2016Denesh Ramdin, the West Indies wicketkeeper, has said he will have no choice but to accept the selectors’ supposed decision to keep him out of the Test squad for the upcoming series against India, and use the regional four-day competition to work his way back to the top. The squad for the four-Test series is yet to be named, but Ramdin had lashed out at new selection committee chairman Courtney Browne on Twitter earlier in the week, saying Browne had told him he is being dropped.”I haven’t felt any pressure for the last three or four years,” Ramdin told Jamaican radio station Power FM. “I felt a bit surprised, but I have no choice but to live by the decision of the higher authority. I don’t own cricket, and, well, I have to go back to my game in the regional four day-set up and come again.””It seems like I’m not a senior player who has done well over the years. But I’ve been down that road before and come back and done very well, so I think the process is easy.”Ramdin, who has scored 2898 runs in 74 Tests, made 59 and 62 in his most recent Test innings in Australia, a series that West Indies lost 2-0. West Indies have not played any Tests since that tour. In their last international assignment, the ODI tri-series last month, Ramdin scored 197 runs at 28.14, with a highest of 91 against Australia in Bridgetown.Expanding on what Browne supposedly told him, Ramdin said: “The chairman called me and he explained to me I would no longer be in the four Test series coming up against India.”He said over the past five-six years my averages haven’t been where they should be as a Test player so they need someone else to fill that position and do well for the West Indies.”I’m pretty disappointed with it; any player would be disappointed. That was said to me that I have to get back in the four-day regional set up and score runs again.”

The England coach Trevor Bayliss has said he is “very” tempted by the idea of playing Adil Rashid as part of a twin-spin attack in the final Test against Pakistan at The Oval

Andrew McGlashan08-Aug-2016The England coach Trevor Bayliss has said he is “very” tempted by the idea of playing Adil Rashid as part of a twin-spin attack in the final Test against Pakistan at The Oval, but even if he does not feature this week has indicated Rashid will start the series in the subcontinent later in the year.Rashid, who played three Tests against Pakistan in the UAE last year, has been part of the squad since the Old Trafford Test and Bayliss said he had come close to playing in the last two matches before England opted to retain the balance of four quicks and Moeen Ali as the spinner.While there have been reports that The Oval pitch will suit England in the final Test, with pace and bounce, recent evidence has been of it offering some help for the spinners. The last time England played two spinners in a home Test was at The Oval, against Australia in 2013, when Simon Kerrigan made his debut.Having been omitted from the third Test, Rashid returned to play for Yorkshire in the County Championship against Warwickshire, where he took 7 for 61 in the match. A notable part of Rashid’s role in that game was running through the lower order, which is something Bayliss believes he could bring to the Test side.”Very,” Bayliss said when asked how tempted he was by the thought of Rashid playing. “I think we saw last year at The Oval, the wicket had a bit in it for everyone. Nathan Lyon bowled very well there, got some spin and bounce out of the wicket. I’ve thought Rashid’s been a chance for the last two or three Tests that we’ve played. At some stage he will get an opportunity.

Anderson back to No. 1

James Anderson has reclaimed the No. 1 spot in the ICC’s Test bowler rankings. Anderson finished with 4 for 85 across two innings as England beat Pakistan by 141 runs at Edgbaston, moving him back above R Ashwin, despite the India offspinner taking six wickets in the draw with West Indies at Sabina Park.
Anderson went top of the rankings for the first time in his career earlier this summer, after the second Test against Sri Lanka at Chester-le-Street. He was then overtaken by Pakistan’s Yasir Shah, after the legspinner took 10 for 141 at Lord’s – a Test Anderson missed through injury – before Ashwin dislodged Yasir following India’s victory in Antigua.
Stuart Broad remains at No. 3, two places above Yasir, while Chris Woakes continued his rise by moving up to a career-high of 20th. Joe Root is still the No. 2-ranked batsman, behind Australia’s Steven Smith, with Alastair Cook climbing a place to No. 7.

“Obviously, we are going to the subcontinent, so he’s probably the guy who will get the first opportunity there. Having a legspinner will help when the wicket is turning, that we can knock over the tail a bit easier.”There are a couple of ways England could fit Rashid into their side; they could drop a pace bowler or back Rashid’s ability as an allrounder and leave either James Vince or Gary Ballance out of the middle order. It is unlikely England will follow either path at The Oval after the all-round success of the attack at Edgbaston, while Ballance made 70 in the first-innings and Vince again earned the backing of the coach after scoring 81 runs in the Test even though he twice fell in familiar fashion edging to the slips.However, further down the line in Bangladesh, should the tour go ahead, and India, Bayliss offered the hint that playing Rashid as another allrounder would be high up England’s thinking – especially when Ben Stokes is available again.”Ben Stokes is a big part of that. If he is in the team as one of four pace bowlers, you could have two spinners. If he was one of three pace bowlers, you might even have three spinners.”If the wickets are anything like South Africa had in India, that’s a possibility. I’d say at this stage we’d definitely be taking three spinners to India. But I think the case for playing two is a definite.”For now, it is likely England will stick to their current balance of having Moeen as the one spinner for the final Test. Moeen produced his best spell of the summer in the second innings at Edgbaston – sending down 15 overs either side of lunch – and claimed the key wicket of Azhar Ali, which opened the door for England’s push towards victory when the ball started to reverse.Moeen, who was named Man of the Match, has been under pressure throughout this series. He has constantly been targeted by the Pakistan batsmen, something which continued in Birmingham, but has continued to chip in with wickets and now has nine in the series at 39.33, albeit his economy stands at 4.36. He worked with Saqlain Mushtaq during the Old Trafford Test and, on the final afternoon at Edgbaston, managed to pitch the ball consistently on a full length with a touch more loop.”The spell just after lunch that he and Broad put together in partnership there, quite simply the difference with his bowling in that spell was his discipline of length,” Bayliss said.”We’ve all seen him before probably falling a little bit short, but I thought that spell he got it pretty much spot on, bowled a little bit wider of the off stump into the rough, coming into the stumps and putting the pressure on the batter. It’s a bit harder then to run down the wicket and hit over the top and play reverse sweeps and sweeps. I thought he put the pressure on very well there.”England’s victory has given them a chance to ascend to the top of the world rankings if they finish the series 3-1 and India do not secure a 3-0 victory over West Indies. Bayliss did not quite say it was a position they were ready for but, as Alastair Cook acknowledged after the Test when he talked about the side “toughening up”, he was encouraged by the comeback during a match they had been behind in for more than two days.”It does give the guys confidence that they can win games from a little bit behind, that anything’s possible,” he said. “I still think we are a little way off. I thought there were signs in this game that some of the more inexperienced players were starting to show a little bit of maturity.”