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Former India coach Greg Chappell has praised Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s captaincy and said the Indian team is shaping up well under him. Chappell quit as coach after the World Cup earlier this year, ending a two-year tenure with the team.Though his stint was mired in controversy, Dhoni was one of the successes and Chappell said he had seen a lot of potential in him. Dhoni led an inexperienced team to victory in the ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa, his debut series as captain.”I had foreseen a great future for Dhoni,” Chappell told . “He has proved his potential and has been most impressive as a leader. The Indians are lucky to have a leader like him.”Chappell, currently in India as a consultant for the Future Cricket Academy of the Rajasthan Cricket Association, based in Jaipur, acknowledged India’s recent success.”The Indian team is now doing well,” he said. “When I was the coach, whatever I did stood them in good stead. It is up to the others to judge. They have a few exciting players and have already won the ICC World Twenty20.”The good thing about Indian cricket is that it has a varied environment in which players are groomed differently. The players, like those from far-flung areas, are an example of that.”The current one-day series between India and Australia, Chappell said, would be a close contest, despite a few senior Australian players retiring from the game in recent months.”The Australian team is in a transition phase. There is no [Glenn] McGrath or Shane Warne. But they are well prepared for the series. They have been working hard and they have to keep intact their supremacy. I believe it will be a hard fought series.”His work at the academy, Chappell said, would not necessarily replicate training methods used at the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane. He inaugurated the academy with Ian Frazer, the bio-mechanics expert who also assisted him when Chappell was with the Indian team.”It is not right to compare it to Centre of Excellence because that has been running for years now. People like Allan Border [the former Australian captain] work and evolve new techniques for the trainees there. But I assure you that it will be different. We wish to make it one of the most reputed training centres of the world.”Twenty20’s growing popularity, Chappell felt, would be a challenge for coaches in adapting to different forms of the game. He did not, though, believe it would ruin a batsman’s technique. “There is no question of spoiling the technique. It has brought about a few changes which 50-over cricket too brought along. Now players use heavy bats, footwork is changing and they are hitting much harder than in my day.”

Damien Martyn has told Dennis Lillee to shut up with his “Dad’s Army” criticisms of the home side ahead of the Ashes. Martyn, who arrived home on Tuesday from Australia’s Champions Trophy victory in India, said Lillee was in danger of losing the respect of current players if he continued to criticise the team.Martyn, one of three 35-year-olds in the side, slammed Lillee’s recent comments that an ageing top order could be the achilles heel in Australia’s bid to regain the Ashes. “I think Dennis Lillee should keep quiet as president of the WACA [Western Australia Cricket Association] – it is disappointing,” Martyn told reporters. “The team is disappointed in Dennis’ several comments over the last six months, which don’t need to be said. No [it doesn’t fire you up] … you just lose your respect.”In a column in the last month, Lillee said he saw danger signs for Australia as they prepared to take on the younger England team. “It’s worrying how Australia, after being outplayed in England last year, are going to turn things around with a decidedly older team,” he wrote.”Australia have some great players but even the greatest players get tapped on the shoulder by Father Time at some stage.” The side to begin the Ashes campaign at the Gabba on November 23 is likely to include Martyn, 35, Justin Langer, 36, Matthew Hayden, who will have turned 35, Ricky Ponting, 31, Adam Gilchrist, 35, Glenn McGrath, 36, and Shane Warne, 37.Ponting said the Champions Trophy win would serve as good preparation for regaining the Ashes. “Our last 12 months of Test cricket has been first-class,” Ponting told reporters at Sydney Airport. “We’ve raised our standards again from where they were, so I couldn’t be happier with the way we’re heading and to have this trophy and the month’s preparation in India and good hard training will be good.”We went away [after the 2005 Ashes loss] and had 15 months to try to rectify some things and with everything we’ve done – our training, preparation and the way we’ve played – we couldn’t have done much more. That’s been the really pleasing thing for me and I know every Australian cricketer is looking forward to getting the series underway – not long now.”

Scorecard

Damien Martyn stroked a wonderful 110 to take Western Australia to a five-wicket victory after some early hiccups against Victoria in their ING Cup match at Perth and then took the opportunity to attack the media for its “unfair” treatment of Australian players. WA finished on 5 for 224 after bowling out Victoria for 222 in just 47.3 overs.Martyn was dropped from the Australian side after averaging just 19.77 with the bat during the Ashes series and came in for some strong criticism in the press. Martyn insists he hasn’t made any changes to his batting since arriving back in Australia: “It’s the same as England. No different. Better bowlers in England. When I got 1200 runs in a season people asked what was different, but I was batting exactly the same way. It’s just cricket. I had a run out and two bad decisions in the Ashes, so anything could’ve happened. Guys don’t bat differently. The game’s not easy.”Martyn said he was still available if the selectors changed his mind, but when asked if Simon Katich’s poor form for Australia would open the door for his return, Martyn launched an attack on the media: “I feel sorry for [Katich], I’ve been there. I feel sorry for what the media do to those players. It’s unfair in a way. It’s a tough job what they do. They’ve been fantastic for four or five years doing what they do, so you should give them a break and let them play cricket.”All Western Australia needed were a couple of good partnerships but they got off to a disastrous start after Gerard Denton dismissed Adam Gilchrist in the first over and bowled Justin Langer in the sixth (3 for 27). Damien Martyn then put on 76 runs with Mike Hussey (35) and 112 runs with Adam Voges (48 not out) as Western Australia recovered superbly to shut Victoria out of the game.Victoria couldn’t get a decent partnership going, after Cameron White chose to bat, as they lost regular wickets at one end while Jonathan Moss hit a fluent 70 at the other. Moss smacked ten fours and a six during his 84-ball innings but was beaten by a change of pace from Peter Worthington and hit a full toss straight to Mike Hussey at cover. Adam Crosthwaite hit a plucky 52 and built handy partnerships with Graeme Rummans and Gerard Denton to take Victoria past 200 before Brad Williams, who finished with an impressive 3 for 36, mopped up the tail.

How many players has Pakistan wasted over the years? How long is a piece of string? So many have come as quickly as they have gone, so many we have been bewitched by, and so many we have despaired of that we have become numb to the lost talent. For every Yasir Hameed, there is an Imran Nazir, a Mohammad Wasim or an Ali Naqvi, for every Mohammad Sami, a Mohammad Zahid or a Mohammad Akram. It doesn’t seem to matter any more, for someone will always emerge and perhaps that is the way of things. But sometimes, every now and again, you stop and wonder how we have become so blasé about them. And instead of trying to understand why they failed, you try to appreciate what they can bring to the game, no matter how sparingly.Shahid Afridi’s ebullient contribution to Pakistan’s win over India on Saturday was the latest in a series of one-offs. Not many players who have exasperated as much as him garner as much attention – even in disappointment there is eminence – but then Afridi has always had something about him, a sense of cricketing decadence in the gloriously neglected manner in which he has frittered his unique gifts. That he has done it so extravagantly, perversely, has enamoured him to some of us. The chances that he will suddenly discover the discipline and the judgment he has lacked for so long are slim. But should that overlook the allure – intermittent, as it is – that he possesses?There isn’t much that is tangible about it, certainly not his career figures; but at its essence his game is an unbridled, almost raw, joy. Much of the charm of Afridi is of a rustic sort, he provides the romance in the game, and all good ones are doomed to failure anyway. There is such a foolish abandon in the way he bats that you wonder whether he has progressed from batting on a potholed street, protecting not stumps but mango crates. He is, in local parlance, a lapaytoo – a street-slogger, but with less technique and discretion. In the gallis their job is to swing at almost every ball, and that Afridi does it still at international level is absurd. He has had so many comebacks that he qualifies as a fully paid-up resident of the last-chance saloon, living fastidiously by its fatalistic ground rules.He reacquainted himself with us on Saturday with a buoyant second-ball six, out of the ground for good measure. It could have been on any street in Karachi, and it could just as easily have been mishit to mid-on. There followed a couple of audacious boundaries and a diabolical dismissal – one that confirmed for most Pakistanis that he might never learn. But he came back, and picked up four wickets, taunting us and daring us to doubt him. Along with Shoaib Malik he turned the match, as if to the manner born. In the field, he was Pakistan’s chirpiest outfield presence since the days of Javed Miandad.But it isn’t even the bits ‘n’ pieces of his batting or bowling, it is instead the whole. He is blessed with a presence; he can make things happen, and around him, things happen. The problem is that he doesn’t know when and how it happens and neither do we. In that way, a comparison with Virender Sehwag – as there was in Pakistan earlier this year – while not obvious, is not entirely untenable. And watching Andrew Flintoff perform this summer can’t help but invoke a tinge of regret at what Afridi has squandered.Of course, his appeal lies partly in his failure to emulate these standards. Maybe there isn’t a permanent space for him in the modern game, reliant as it is not only on extravagant natural gifts, but on self-discipline and the ability to harness that talent as well. He seems out of place and out of touch with the work ethic of today’s players, as well as lacking their willingness to learn and improve. He will argue, as he has done, that the team has never used him properly, and he does it with some justification. Even before this tri-nation series, the team management was unsure as to how to utilise him most effectively. His critics will argue that he has simply refused to learn in over seven years with the national team.But surely there is room for an ephemeral rogue, if only because occasionally, and unexpectedly, he adds another dimension to any game. As he did against India at Peshawar earlier this year, he may very well embark on another disastrous run of failures after this latest encounter. But maybe that is OK; we know what we get with him, and if he deigns to provide it to us when he feels fit to – or is allowed to – then why not admire it for what it is? Why live in the hope that he will come round and start doing it all the time? It is only sporadic moments of beauty he provides, but it is beauty nonetheless and for that alone it should be treasured.

Nicky Boje has undergone surgery after fracturing his left fibula while fielding in the NatWest Series one-day international against England at Edgbaston on July 8. Boje, who was substituting for Martin van Jaarsveld, also suffered medial-ligament damage in his ankle, and is expected to be out of action for at least four months.Boje had come onto the field at the drinks break and was fielding at extra cover. His immediate reaction was one of pain as he screamed to the dressing-rooms for assistance, and, after a swift assessment by the physiotherapist, he was carried from the field by his team-mates before being taken by ambulance to the Selly Oak West Midlands hospital.South Africa’s coach Eric Simons reflected the feelings of the tightly knit squad: “I feel desperately sorry for Nicky. He has had injury problems before with his shoulder, and now this. I just hope he will recover quickly, as he has made a positive impact on the squad both on and off the field.”And what was the injury to van Jaarsveld that necessitated the substitution that brought Boje on to field? Gerald de Kock, South Africa’s media spokesman, put it this way: “van Jaarsveld got hit in the box before play and during his innings and that got more and more painful.”Well, at least his fibula’s still all right.

Like a squirrel getting out and gathering nuts to store away for winter, former New Zealand cricket captain Jeremy Coney has been storing cricketing gems for the summer and an in-depth series of television documentaries to be screened by SKY Television.While documentaries have been done on the history of New Zealand cricket before, Coney has focused not so much on the matches and the feats but more on the characters and stories of those who have played the games.The series is called The Mantis and the Cricket and is scheduled to start on December 18, the day New Zealand opens its domestic international cricket season with the first Test against Bangladesh in Hamilton.Several players have been interviewed on tape for the series which was originally intended to be done in eight shows but which is already looking like it will be extended.Restraints have meant that Coney hasn’t been able to talk to as many players as he would like but there is a chance that he will yet get to talk to more veterans of the Kiwi game.”Getting them to tell their stories has been what I have been after. There’s not a lot in terms of footage that hasn’t been seen before, but there are some nice stories that haven’t been heard,” Coney said.As a former Test player Coney has found the exercise something of a voyage around the game he played, stimulating and informative, and he hopes his series will be the same for cricket enthusiasts.”It has given my appreciation of our history a lot of depth and has rounded it out. I was not one to be immersed with the history of cricket when I was younger.”But to meet and talk with the people who made the history has been special.”It was a privilege to go and see the old players and they have answered everything I asked them.”Some have been quite straight about they felt about things at the time,” he said.Coney said Walter Hadlee and John Reid had been invaluable as they spanned so much of the first era he is pursuing in the series. There was also film of the late Bert Sutcliffe that was made in the year before he died, as well as some archive material SKY held that had not been seen before.Others like Matt Poore, had some lovely stories to tell about the 1955/56 tour of India and Pakistan, including the fact that the players had their own servants on the tour, and the occasion on which one of the servants did his work as the team left the hotel one morning and later the same day walked out to umpire a Test match.Historian Don Neely and former commentator Iain Gallaway had been other well-known identities who had been involved along with Jack Kerr, the 1937 tourist and manager of the 1953/54 team to South Africa and a chairman of the New Zealand Cricket Council, and Tony MacGibbon, who toured with the New Zealand side during the mid-1950s and Johnny Hayes and Merv Wallace.New Zealand had struggled to find its way in international cricket to start with, and had made decisions almost against itself in the early days, such as when deciding professional players would not be included in the 1937 tour of England.But there were other occasions when the part-timers from New Zealand made people sit up and take notice such as when the 1931 side dismissed the MCC for 48 at Lord’s and managed a significant victory which immediately resulted in the side’s one scheduled Test being lifted to three Tests.”The whole project is very much in its infancy but I have enjoyed it. If it works well it may be continued.”I think it is quite important from a historical perspective. There have been enough examples of why that is the case in the last couple of years,” he said.One aspect that did come through to him in talking to players related to the 1949 tour.”I didn’t realise the strength of feeling and character of the 1949’ers. Other New Zealand teams are envious of the position they hold in our game, and the 1999 side call themselves the 99’ers after going through England and winning two Tests and the series.”But there was a real feeling of family in that 1949 side. It was after the war and they were going through that country, almost out of the trenches, it was an age of austerity and they were meeting each night and discussing their cricket and each was wanting each other to do well.”Those sorts of values have changed now, but the series will be good for young people to learn about the game.”I hope people will enjoy it,” he said.

Pakistan will tour England for the first time since the spot-fixing scandal of 2010, with next summer’s schedule for four Tests, five ODIs and a T20 confirmed by the ECB. Sri Lanka are England’s other opponents and will arrive in early May, a time of the year that regularly leads to a clash with the IPL.Both touring sides will play ODIs in Ireland ahead of limited-overs series with England – a development that goes towards Cricket Ireland’s attempts to secure more regular fixtures against Full Member opposition.England’s Test series against Pakistan will be squeezed into little more than a month, with two sets of back-to-back Test matches separated by an eight-day gap – during which Pakistan will play a tour match against Worcestershire. They have also been given three-day warm-up matches at Taunton and Hove before the first Test at Lord’s begins on July 14.The Test will Pakistan’s first at Lord’s since the events of 2010 that led to Mohammad Amir, Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif being banned for a scheme to bowl deliberate no-balls. Amir could yet be part of the touring squad, having recently begun to play domestic cricket again in Pakistan. The bans on all three will expire next week.Sri Lanka also have two tour matches scheduled, against Essex and Leicestershire, before beginning the three-Test series with back-to-back matches at Headingley – scene of their series-clinching victory in 2014 – and Chester-le-Street. A Lord’s Test in the relative warmth of June follows, then two ODIs in Ireland, five ODIs against England and a single T20.Trent Bridge will not host a Test for the first time since 2009, while Bristol will hope to see the return of international cricket after five years, having suffered a washout during the visit of India in 2014.Sri Lanka in England and Ireland 2016
May 4: Sri Lanka arrive
May 8-10: Essex, Chelmsford
May 13-15: Leicestershire, Grace Road
May 19-23: 1st Investec Test, Headingley
May 27-31: 2nd Test, Chester-le-Street
June 9-13: 3rd Test, Lord’s
June 16: 1st ODI v Ireland, TBC
June 18: 2nd ODI v Ireland, TBC
June 21: 1st Royal London ODI, Trent Bridge
June 24: 2nd ODI, Edgbaston
June 26: 3rd ODI, Bristol
June 29: 4th ODI, Kia Oval
July 2: 5th ODI, Cardiff
July 5: NatWest T20, Ageas Bowl
Pakistan in England and Ireland 2016
June 29: Pakistan arrive
July 3-5: Somerset, Taunton
July 8-10: Sussex, Hove
July 14-18: 1st Investec Test, Lord’s
July 22-26: 2nd Test, Old Trafford
July 29-30: Worcestershire, Worcester
Aug 3-7: 3rd Test, Edgbaston
Aug 11-15: 4th Test, Kia Oval
Aug 18: 1st ODI v Ireland, TBC
Aug 20: 2nd ODI v Ireland, TBC
Aug 24: 1st Royal London ODI, Ageas Bowl
Aug 27: 2nd ODI, Lord’s
Aug 30: 3rd ODI, Trent Bridge
Sep 1: 4th ODI, Headingley
Sep 4: 5th ODI, Cardiff
Sep 7: NatWest T20, Old Trafford

New Zealand will head to India next month armed with a three-pronged spin arsenal after offspinner Nathan McCullum, legspinner Ish Sodhi and left-arm orthodox allrounder Mitchell Santner were included in a 15-man squad for the World T20 announced on Monday. New Zealand had rotated through a series of spinners in their limited-overs squads during the recent pair of home series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, though McCullum had not played for New Zealand since the tour to South Africa in August.

New Zealand WT20 squad

Kane Williamson (capt), Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, Grant Elliott, Corey Anderson, Colin Munro, Luke Ronchi (wk), Mitchell Santner, Nathan McCullum, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne, Ish Sodhi

“With the Indian conditions in mind, the plan has always been to take three front-line spinners and all three bring something different,” said New Zealand coach Mike Hesson in a statement at the unveiling of the squad. “It’s great to have Nathan available again and his experience in the foreign conditions will be invaluable. Both he and Mitch Santner have the ability to bowl in the first six overs, which gives Kane a number of options to work with.”Legspinner Todd Astle did not make the cut though after having been included for the three-match T20I series against Pakistan. Astle, who hadn’t played for New Zealand since making his Test debut in 2012 against Sri Lanka, was ineffective in the first two matches of the series. He went wicketless with figures of 0 for 41 spread across four overs in the two games and was left out for the final match of the series.Henry Nicholls, who is uncapped in T20Is for New Zealand, was chosen after impressing with 82 in a Man-of-the-Match performance against Pakistan in the first ODI at Basin Reserve last week. Nicholls will also serve as cover for wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi.”Henry has shown his talent and versatility with the bat this summer and has also been used as a wicketkeeper for New Zealand A,” said Hesson.As for the injured trio of Tim Southee, Mitchell McClenaghan and Ross Taylor, all three were picked and are expected to be fit by the start of the tournament. The return of Southee and McClenaghan meant there was no room for Matt Henry in the squad as Adam Milne was tabbed for the remaining fast bowling slot alongside Trent Boult and allrounders Corey Anderson and Grant Elliott.New Zealand is in a second-round pool alongside Australia, Pakistan, India and the winner of the qualifying pool played among Bangladesh, Ireland, Netherlands and Oman. New Zealand’s first match will be in Nagpur against India on March 15.

Despite the exodus of Australian players from county cricket in the past few weeks, those who remain are still making their mark as the season slowly comes to a close. Justin Langer’s strong form continued as he lifted Somerset to the top of the Pro40 division two table with half-centuries two days in a row.Langer’s productive week began at Canterbury on Monday when he turned around Somerset’s poor start with 92 from 105 balls before a run-out denied him a century. However, his efforts were enough to take the team from 2 for 6 in the early stages to 8 for 214, a total that was fractionally too high for Kent.The home side wobbled to 5 for 45 – the medium-pacer Peter Trego claimed the first five wickets – before a remarkable fightback was led by Ryan McLaren. His unbeaten 78 nearly pushed Kent over the line but they fell two runs short, finishing their 40 overs at 7 for 212.The next day at Taunton, Langer followed with 53 from 47 deliveries in Somerset’s impressive 6 for 287. Leicestershire never looked like reaching the target and were dismissed for 177, allowing Somerset to edge one point clear of Durham with two rounds remaining.While Durham’s Pro40 form has been good, they sit right in the middle of the County Championship division one table. However, they could jump towards the top if they can beat Worcestershire at Chester-le-Street this week and thanks partly to Michael Di Venuto that is a strong possibility.Di Venuto, who averages 74.66 this season, made 50 as Durham closed day one at 7 for 201, having already passed the visitors’ 182. Seventeen wickets fell in the day and the stars of the first innings treated the Riverside Ground like a fountain of youth. Ottis Gibson, 38, continued his age-defying season with 7 for 46 and the main resistance for Worcestershire came from Graeme Hick, 41, who slapped a quick 64 from 65 balls.Stuart Law’s Lancashire were also hoping to edge towards the top of the division one table in their clash with Kent at Canterbury. Law made 66 to help Lancashire close day two at 8 for 316, just short of the home side’s 327, which had been set up by Matt Walker’s 142. With a line-up boasting Law, Muttiah Muralitharan, VVS Laxman and, earlier in the tournament, Brad Hodge, Andrew Flintoff and James Anderson, Lancashire would be disappointed to have only three wins from their 13 matches so far.

A back injury to fast bowler Michael Kasprowicz, the Australian fast bowler, has jeopardised his chances of making the Australian squad for the Ashes next month. Kasprowicz picked up the injury last week while jogging and consulted a specialist on Wednesday for scans.Kasprowicz said that the condition felt similar to the one he suffered earlier this year in South Africa, which forced him out of the subsequent tour to Bangladesh. He had been training hard, he said, during the off-season to boost his chances of making the Ashes squad, shedding five kilograms in the process.”It’s been a week now and it hasn’t settled down,” Kasprowicz told . “I can’t sit down for any more than two minutes without it hurting. I’ve tried things like acupuncture but it hasn’t worked. It feels a bit like it did on the South African tour.”It does not look much good at all at the moment and there is no clear time frame as to when I will be bowling again. I will know more tomorrow. It’s really disappointing because I had had a great off-season.”Kasprowicz was dropped from the Australian squad after a poor Ashes series last year, though he only played in two of the Tests. He missed Australia’s entire home season against the West Indies and South Africa before returning for the return series against South Africa. He only took seven wickets in the series, but alongside Brett Lee went some way towards erasing the Edgbaston heartache by taking Australia to an exciting two-wicket victory at Johannesburg with a crucial ninth-wicket stand. His injury is the second setback to Australia’s admittedly well-stocked pace attack after fast bowler Stuart Clark pulled out of the Champions Trophy in India with a thigh injury.