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Paul Collingwood wants to help Durham until he has “zero energy left” after confirming he will extend his professional career into a 22nd year with the club.After weeks of news about further players leave the club – and other problems for the county, including the drug-related ban for batsman Jack Burnham – it will have been heartening for Durham’s management to hear that one of their stalwarts wants to keep on playing despite an increasing coaching workload with England, which includes roles in the Ashes and one-day series in Australia.Collingwood’s form in 2017 confirmed there was no waning of his powers and he was named Player of the Year, Players’ Player of the Year and Batsman of the Year at the club’s end-of-season awards. He scored over 1000 runs in the County Championship and hit a century during the NatWest Blast campaign.”I am so proud to still be playing for my home county who have given me the perfect environment to fulfil all of my cricketing dreams,” Collingwood said. “I’ve proven this season that I still have a lot to offer and I feel my role at Durham is still important in helping develop the next generation of Durham cricketers.”I know that this club still has so much to offer English cricket and despite a challenging season I still feel we can compete for promotion back to the first division in 2018. We will keep fighting, that’s the Durham spirit, we will keep giving opportunities to home-grown players and offering chances for them to play first-class cricket.”We have to fight right from the top to the bottom of the club, Durham is a fantastic place to play and they have given me everything over the years. I will try and help them right until I have zero energy left, at the minute I still have plenty.”Club chairman, Ian Botham, added: “To keep a player of Paul’s experience and ability at the club is a massive bonus as we continue to strive for promotion back to the top division.”Paul epitomises the values of Durham CCC, both on and off the field, as well as still being a fine player who leads from the front in the role of club captain.In the closing weeks of the season, Keaton Jennings and Graham Onions left Durham for Lancashire while Paul Coughlin moved to Nottinghamshire.

Big picture

Ravi Shastri captained India the last time international cricket came to Thiruvananthapuram. It was a forgettable evening for India fans in football country as Phil Simmons and Gordon Greenidge orchestrated a nine-wicket West Indies win. Virat Kohli, who turned 29 on Sunday, wasn’t even born then. Now the Shastri-Kohli combine will have to plot hard, particularly on the batting front, to prevent New Zealand from winning their first-ever proper series, across formats, on Indian shores.New Zealand could claim the 2012 T20I series was theirs, but that was reduced to a one-off contest in Chennai because a cyclonic depression washed out the first game in Visakhapatnam. Now, there’s the small matter of hoping the receding monsoons, which have caused intermittent showers around Kerala, don’t cast a spell on Tuesday evening.In that 2012 Chennai game, MS Dhoni, faced with having to get 13 off the last over, couldn’t pull India past the mark. He was at his peak then. Perhaps not so now, as his struggle to bring out the big shots on demand has opened up debate over his batting position, and even his place in the side. Does he belong, or is it time to make way? A definitive answer is elusive just yet, but could be in the making, maybe even as early as Tuesday provided there’s a full game.In Delhi, New Zealand dropped three catches. It cost them the match and their No. 1 ranking. In Rajkot, India were the generous hosts, reprieving Colin Munro four times and watching him wallop his second T20I century of the year, which set the game up for spinners Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner. In Thiruvananthapuram, where the weather is entirely different to the dry heat of Rajkot or the early winter chill of Delhi, New Zealand’s fitness will be tested by near-100% humidity. Are they hydrated enough to go one better after failing in successive deciders in India?

Form guide

India: LWLWW (completed matches, most recent first)
New Zealand: WLLWW

In the spotlight

MS Dhoni scored 49 off 37 balls in Rajkot, and while the bare numbers look impressive, they don’t tell the whole story. Coming in at No. 6 with India needing 130 off 65 balls, he pushed and prodded his way to 26 off 26 before heaving a couple of big blows when the match was out of bounds. VVS Laxman, for one, believes it is time to look beyond Dhoni and groom a younger wicketkeeper-batsman in the shortest format. While his position isn’t under immediate threat yet, it remains to be seen if he will continue to bat at No. 6.Colin de Grandhomme came to India with the reputation of being a useful medium-pacer who can provide plenty of lower-order muscle. On this tour, save for one game in Pune where he made 41, he hasn’t managed to showcase his talent in either area. In the first T20I, he was out for a golden duck and conceded 34 off three wicketless overs. In Rajkot, Williamson preferred Munro’s medium-pace to de Grandhomme’s, which meant he only got the one over.BCCI

Team news

Mohammed Siraj’s international initiation didn’t quite go to plan in Rajkot, where he conceded 53 in his four overs. With Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah conceding only 52 off their eight overs and with Hardik Pandya as a third seam option, India could look at replacing Siraj with Kuldeep Yadav, who hasn’t featured since the first ODI in Mumbai.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Shreyas Iyer, 4 Virat Kohli (capt), 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 MS Dhoni (wk), 7 Axar Patel, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Yuzvendra ChahalTom Latham was left out of the Rajkot game despite having been one of New Zealand’s finds of the tour, despite having been given a new role in the middle order. While there may not be a reason to make a change to a winning XI, barring injury, they could consider bringing Latham back.New Zealand (probable): 1 Colin Munro, 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Tom Bruce, 5 Glenn Phillips (wk), 6 Henry Nicholls, 7 Colin de Grandhomme, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Ish Sodhi, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Adam Milne

Pitch and conditions

A brand-new venue and a brand-new surface. The organisers claim scores of 180-plus were made in both innings of a warm-up game a fortnight ago. What teams will be mindful of, though, is the sapping heat and humidity, and the possibility of rain and a truncated game. The Kerala Cricket Association has invested in a modern drainage system and has three Super Soppers should it get to that.

Stats and trivia

• New Zealand haven’t lost a bilateral T20I series of two or more matches in their last eight series.
• Sodhi has an economy of 5.66 against India, the best ever in T20Is among spinners who have bowled at least 10 overs against them.
• Three of India’s four failed T20I chases at home have come against New Zealand
• Greenfield Stadium becomes the 19th venue to host a T20I in India

Quotes

“I never felt that kind of a pressure that we play five batsmen and Hardik Pandya. Whatever the situation or combination we are given, we have to go according to that.”
“It’s one exciting thing for us that we’ve taken them to the decider for the last two series now. They played well in Kanpur under a little bit of pressure as well so we still have to turn up tomorrow and play the best we can and perform our roles.”

Basil Thampi enjoyed a fine day out in Lahli. It began with his walking out as a nightwatchman, without a single run to his name. It ended with him scoring a maiden first-class half-century and picking up two vital wickets to reduce Haryana to 83 for 5. On the back of that effort, Kerala retained a lead of 98 runs and appear well placed to secure the victory which will seal their progress into the quarter-finals.That may have been timely consolation for Rohan Prem, who had battled for 314 balls in search of a century only to fall seven runs short. His was the first wicket of two wickets to fall in the 101st over bowled by legspinner Amit Mishra but Thampi ensured there was no transfer of momentum, striking 10 fours and a six during his stay at the crease. Although Kerala’s tail folded relatively meekly – medium-pacer Ajit Chahal picked up his second five-for in as many matches – the damage had already been done.It would only get worse for Haryana as they found themselves 6 for 1 in the seventh over. The run-rate remained dismal for the rest of the day – they were 39 for 3 in the 27th – and were hurt further when Thampi picked up two wickets in successive overs to leave the score at 61 for 5.Defending champions Gujarat took a few further steps towards making the knockouts in Ranchi with Kamlesh Thakor, the debutant left-arm seamer, playing a pivotal role. The 25-year old picked up five wickets in the day to ensure Jharkhand were bowled out for 242 and then made to follow on. The hosts could not stand up to scoreboard pressure, with six of the XI falling for single-digits in the first innings. Only opener Nazim Siddiqui (71) and Kumar Deobrat (80) provided any resistance but they were removed by Gujarat’s two most impressive bowlers Thakor (3 for 43) and Chintan Gaja (3 for 49). Deobrat was promoted to open alongside Siddiqui in the second innings, but both batsmen fell to Thakor to leave Jharkhand 106 for 2 in at stumps.As well as Saurashtra fought, making Rajasthan follow-on in Jaipur, their bid to stay alive in the tournament took a hit due to the way the other two matches in group B progressed. A win for Gujarat and Kerala will see them through regardless of what Saurashtra do. Still, captain Jaydev Unadkat (3 for 77), Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (3 for 42) and Shaurya Sanandia (3 for 62) bowled Rajasthan out for 275 and helped secure a lead of 259. Robin Bist (63) and Mahipal Lomror (52) were the only batsmen to put up concerted resistance. There was time for 12 overs in the follow-on innings, which openers Amitkumar Gautam and Chetan Bist safely negotiated.

Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Kieron Pollard and Darren Bravo have opted to skip the World Cup Qualifiers in March to play in the Pakistan Super League. The development was revealed by Cricket West Indies, which released the 15-man squad for the qualifiers scheduled to be played in Zimbabwe from March 4 to 25.Ten teams will contest the qualifiers with two going through to join the top eight-ranked nations for the 2019 World Cup, to be played in England from May 30 to July 14.

West Indies squad

Jason Holder (capt), Jason Mohammed (vice-capt), Devendra Bishoo, Carlos Brathwaite, Sheldon Cottrell, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, Evin Lewis, Nikita Miller, Ashley Nurse, Rovman Powell, Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuels, Kesrick Williams
IN: Carlos Brathwaite, Kemar Roach, Devendra Bishoo
OUT: Ronsford Beaton, Shannon Gabriel, Alzarri Joseph, Kyle Hope, Chadwick Walton, Sunil Ambris

Jason Holder will lead the West Indies squad which, chairman of selectors Courtney Browne said had the right mix of “experience and youth.” Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels are two senior-most members of the 15-man squad, which also sees the return of allrounder Carlos Brathwaite, fast bowler Kemar Roach and legspinner Devendra Bishoo from the group that played in the ODI series in New Zealand, which West Indies lost 3-0.Holder had said recently that West Indies would treat every match as a “must-win” game, keeping in mind the “magnitude” of what was at stake for them. Critics then are bound to question if this is the best ODI squad to represent West Indies solely because some of the best limited-overs players – Narine, Pollard and Russell – are not part of the squad.Browne stated all four players said their “priority” was to play in the PSL, which runs parallel to and beyond the qualifiers. The PSL, in its third year, will be played from February 22 to March 25. “We contacted some of our well-known senior cricketers to ascertain their availability for the tournament and we are pleased that Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels have indicated their full support and commitment to the cause,” Browne said in a media release. “Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Darren Bravo and Andre Russell, however, indicated that they were unavailable to help us qualify as their priority was playing in the Pakistan Super League.”The West Indies squad will depart for Zimbabwe on February 16, about 10 days before playing two warm-up matches before the league phase of the qualifiers commences. According to Johnny Grave, the CWI chief executive officer, between Browne, Jimmy Adams, West Indies’ director of cricket, and himself, the three had discussions with the four players in the recent weeks.”Their positions were clear that they were unable to help us qualify and they are all committed to participate in the PSL,” Grave told ESPNcricinfo. “We understand and respect the players’ decisions. We are hugely disappointed that they have not made themselves available to help the West Indies qualify for the World Cup.”All four players are part of the set of high-profile players who were not offered contracts by CWI. The set includes Gayle, Narine, Russell, Pollard, Bravo, Samuels, Samuel Badree and Darren Sammy. Grave had recently pointed out that these players were not being offered the white-ball contracts which were meant for players featuring in both ODI and T20 teams. He also said that the players would need to play some 50-over games in the domestic Super50 Cup, which begins soon, in order to warrant selection to the ODI side.Andre Fletcher and Andre Russell celebrate West Indies’ win•AFP

Whether the implication of not having a contract was a reason behind the four players opting out could not be ascertained. It is, however, understood that during the conversations with CWI, Russell and Narine stated that they just wanted some time to work on their individual games before returning to play for West Indies. Both players are understood to have committed to play in the limited-overs formats soon.Grave confirmed that Russell, whose one-year doping ban ends on January 31, will feature in the league phase of Super50 after he was picked in the Jamaica squad this week. Also playing the group stages of the Super50 would be Gayle, Samuels and Narine.Russell has not played an ODI since November 2015. His last international match was a T20 against India in August 2016. In his time away from West Indies and, before the ban, Russell was busy playing various T20 leagues overseas, where he is one of the most sought-after players. In his discussions with the CWI officials, Russell expressed his desire to return to play ODIs, but wanted to regain his confidence playing in the 50-over format. The selectors and CWI accepted his reasoning and supported his move to play the Super50.Recently, Russell and Narine were two players retained by Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of the IPL auction. Russell is expected to be part of the West Indies A tour to England, which follows the IPL, where he is expected to test himself as well as allow the selectors to assess his performances before the series against Bangladesh in the summer.Narine, who has not played ODIs since October 2016, informed CWI that he is not yet confident about his bowling action completely. Narine has been working with a specialist coach, Carl Crowe, on his bowling action over the past few years and has asked for a bit more time, which Grave said he could understand.The case of Pollard and Bravo is not so straightforward, though. Pollard, who is currently playing the Big Bash League and became the first to play 400 T20s, has also not played ODIs since October 2016. In December, Pollard pulled out on the eve of the T20 series in New Zealand, citing “personal reasons”. When the selectors checked with him about his availability for the World Cup Qualifiers, he said he was not available.The Bravo case is intriguing along similar lines. Despite agreeing to a truce with CWI last year, Bravo has not played for West Indies recently. He opted out of the England tour last year, saying he wanted to play in the CPL. He then declined to be part of the New Zealand tour wanting to play in the Bangladesh Premier League. And now, he has picked the PSL over the qualifiers. “It is his decision. It is his career, but I am disappointed,” Grave said.

Big Picture

You don’t need a New Zealand visa if you’re an Australian. There are also separate immigration queues at the airports for Australian passport holders. Both countries have a union jack on their flags.You don’t need a local sim card, because Australian telecom providers offer flexible pay-per-use deals owing to proximity. The hiking trails, sporting culture and the weather patterns mean Australia are at a home away from home.Yet, when they take on India in the Under-19 World Cup final in Mount Manganui, they will feel like an away team playing in Mohali. Tauranga’s Punjabi community of 4000 people, the biggest in New Zealand, will have their and drums ready to add colour to a festive Saturday afternoon. The ground can hold 8000 people, and the organisers are hoping to have the venue more than half-full.Outside Australia’s travelling group of parents, there is unlikely to be too much fan support for the 11 players, who will look to challenge untested India in their bid for their first Under-19 World Cup since Mitchell Marsh led them to the title in 2010. Prior to that, they had won in 1988 and 2002. India, too, are three-time winners, and last won in 2012 under Unmukt Chand. Two years ago in Bangladesh, they lost to West Indies in the final after dominating the group stages.The similarities between the two, however, go beyond just the number of titles won. Both have a star-studded support cast: Chris Rogers and Ryan Harris for Australia; Rahul Dravid for India. Both captains – Jason Sangha and Prithvi Shaw – have set age-related first-class records. It is when you dig into team specifics that the similarities become hard to find.India’s openers are in form; Australia are sweating over the poor form of one of their gun openers – Max Bryant. India have two allrounders in Anukul Roy and Kamlesh Nagarkoti, as opposed to Australia, who just have Will Sutherland. Barring Ishan Porel, India haven’t had too many injury concerns, while Australia have been forced to mix and match. Jason Ralston was ruled out, and now Aaron Hardie, his replacement, has also joined him on the sidelines with a groin injury. In their absence, Zak Evans and Ryan Hadley will form their new-ball attack.This is a clash between a highly skilled side that has prepared in every condition possible, against a side that has the best sporting system and has produced match-winners by truckloads. That Australia are here is because Lloyd Pope gatecrashed an England party that was ready to take off. They would have to play out of their skins to repeat that against India on Saturday.

Form guide

India WWWWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Australia WWWWLPrithvi Shaw and Jason Sangha pose with the trophy•IDI via Getty Images

In the spotlight

Rahul Dravid generally doesn’t talk up individuals, at least not during a tournament such as the World Cup, which is why it was surprising to see him effusively praise 16-year old Riyan Parag, the top-order batsman who bowls handy offspin. “He was in phenomenal form, hitting it so beautifully in the build-up,” Dravid said. “It’s just unfortunate he got injured and then has taken a while to come into his batting groove. He’ll come good.”Parag didn’t start the tournament because of a finger injury, and made the XI only for the final group game against Zimbabwe. Since returning, he has had two low scores but has consistently chipped in with the ball. The final may not be a bad time to repay the coach’s faith with the bat.Jack Edwards has been talked up as one of the best players of spin in this Australian set-up. He’ll potentially be up against four spinners in the final. He made 73 in the opening game against India, and then trailed off until he hit a crucial, counter-attacking 72 in the semi-final against Afghanistan. Can he continue to surge in the final?

Team news

India are unlikely to tinker with their XI, despite the middle order not having played to full potential yet. Parag is yet to come into his own, while Harvik Desai has just one half-century from a low-pressure chase against Zimbabwe. Barring any last-minute injuries, all players pick themselves.India (likely): 1 Prithvi Shaw (capt), 2 Manjot Kalra, 3 Shubman Gill, 4 Harvik Desai, 5 Riyan Parag, 6 Abhishek Sharma, 7 Anukul Roy, 8 Kamlesh Nagarkoti, 9 Shivam Mavi, 10 Ishan Porel, 11 Shiva SinghNathan McSweeney’s only impactful knock – 156 against Papua New Guinea – came as an opener. With Max Bryant having scored just 93 runs in five innings, there’s perhaps a case for Australia to make a swap.Australia (likely): 1 Jack Edwards, 2 Max Bryant, 3 Jason Sangha (capt), 4 Param Uppal, 5 Nathan McSweeney, 6 Jonathan Merlo, 7 Will Sutherland, 8 Baxter Holt, 9 Zak Evans, 10 Ryan Hadley, 11 Lloyd Pope

Pitch and conditions

It has been stormy in Mount Manganui. For two successive days, the pitch was under covers. Bright sunshine on match-eve has allowed the curators to add final touches to their preparation. In its short history, The Bay Oval has hosted a number of high-scoring matches. Since it does not have Test status yet, pitches have generally been tailored for short-form cricket. India made 328 when these two sides played in their opening game three weeks ago. Expect Saturday to be no different.

Stats and trivia

• Australia do not have a single batsman among the top-10 scorers in the tournament.
• Shubman Gill is India’s only centurion in the tournament. He will go into the final on the back of a record six successive 50-plus scores in Youth ODIs.
• Lloyd Pope’s 8 for 35 shaded Jason Ralston’s 7 for 15 as the best figures in the tournament’s history. Ralston’s record lasted all of four days.

Quotes

“Our fast bowlers have been doing well right from the first match. They have provided breakthroughs whenever the team has needed one. They are ready whenever I ask them to bowl. All of them – Kamlesh (Nagarkoti), (Shivam) Mavi and (Ishan) Porel have shown good intensity and fitness. It helps us all have a good attitude in the field. We’re all really pumped up when our fast bowlers do well.”
“Their fast bowlers don’t bother us one bit. Sure, they have all done well, but we know we are capable of playing anyone. This is a final and the pressure will be equally on them as it will be on us.”

Stuart Broad has been honing his bowling action ahead of England’s Test series in New Zealand next month where he will arrive sitting on 399 wickets.In a pair of tweets posted on Tuesday, Broad explained how he was working on getting more side-on on his delivery stride. In recent times he has found it harder to move the ball away from right handers.”Working on my action to get more side on. More twist in my shoulders to get my front arm more towards the target, helping my feet align much better,” Broad wrote alongside a short video. “Walk throughs give me a great feel of how my body is moving. Some balls come out great, some horrible, but I always say try different things in training cause if something clicks for you it can help your game, no one cares if you get it wrong in the aim for improvement!”The Ashes was largely a struggle for Broad as he claimed 11 wickets at 47.72 – five of them coming in the fourth Test at Melbourne – his most expensive return in a series of more than three matches, while he finished with his worst Test figures of 0 for 142 in Perth.Broad came in for heavy criticism after the performance in Perth, with former England captain Michael Vaughan questioning his place in the team, but responded with his best outing of the series in Melbourne.Throughout 2017, Broad found Test wickets harder to come by than previous years, finishing with 30 scalps at 36.06 – his highest average since 2010.Broad claimed his 399th Test wicket early in Australia’s first innings at the SCG last month – when he bowled Cameron Bancroft with his second delivery – but remained short of his next landmark through 29 overs as Australia amassed 649 for 7. He will become the second England bowler after new-ball partner James Anderson to reach 400 wickets.The first Test against New Zealand, a day-night match at Eden Park, starts on March 22.

Sunil Narine has once again been reported for a suspect bowling action, this time during the Pakistan Super League game between Lahore Qalandars and Quetta Gladiators on March 14. This means he has been placed on the PSL’s watch list, but can continue to play the tournament unless reported again. The PCB will pass on the match officials’ report on Narine’s action to Cricket West Indies (CWI).”Mr Narine has now been placed on the warning list and may continue to be selected to play and bowl for his team in the PSL,” the PCB said in a statement. “As the PSL follows the ICC regulations on illegal bowling actions, if a player is reported [again] while on the warning list, the player shall be suspended from bowling for the remainder of the PSL tournament.”The match officials report on Mr Narine’s bowling action will be sent to the West Indies Cricket Board and he will have to go through the process that is followed by the West Indies Cricket Board, for suspected illegal bowling actions.”A history of Sunil Narine’s action•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The West Indies offspinner has had his action reported several times in the past. During the Champions League T20 in 2014, he was reported twice in two matches and missed the final. He pulled out of West Indies’ World Cup 2015 squad to give himself time to work on his bowling action following that, returned during the IPL, and was reported once again during that tournament. After testing, his offbreaks were banned, but later in the tournament he was given a “final warning” by the BCCI and struck off the watch list.He returned to international duty in November 2015, only to be reported once again during his first series back – limited-overs games against Sri Lanka. He was suspended from bowling – even while the No. 1 bowler in the ICC rankings for ODIs and T20Is – at the end of November, and missed the 2016 World T20 as well to work on his action. He was cleared to bowl again ahead of IPL 2016.Narine was one of only two players retained by his IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of this season, which begins on April 7, and questions remain over whether this will affect his participation in the tournament. It is unlikely to affect it, unless he is called for a second time in the PSL, or CWI runs tests that find his action to be illegal.

Ramifications from the Newlands ball-tampering scandal and Cricket Australia’s (CA) response have broadened with the resignation of the experienced corporate leader Bob Every from the CA Board.Every, who spent time in South Africa during the series, informed CA of his decision to quit on Friday, in the same week that the call was made to appoint Justin Langer as national team coach for four years despite the fact there are two reviews into the team and CA as a whole to be undertaken after the events of the Cape Town Test.The commissioning of the Ethics Centre to conduct a review into the overall culture of CA, from the chairman David Peever down, is believed to have been a sore point. ESPNcricinfo revealed last week that the CA director Michelle Tredenick had to step aside from all discussions relating to the review as she is also on the board of the Ethics Centre, which carried out a hotly-debated review of the Australian Olympic Committee last year and was also central to the creation of the “Banking and Finance Oath” in 2012.”Bob has served on the CA Board for more than two and a half years and has made a valuable contribution over that time,” Peever said. “Bob served on the MoU sub-committee for the most recent negotiations with the Australian Cricketers’ Association, CA’s Audit and Risk Committee, and was an active contributor to Board discussions. On behalf of Cricket Australia and Australian cricket, I thank him for his service and wish him well for the future.”Every joined the Board alongside Tredenick in late 2015, after a lengthy corporate career that included roles as non-executive chairman of Wesfarmers, chairman of Boral Limited and Iluka Resources Limited, chief executive of Tubemakers, president of BHP Steel, and managing director and CEO of OneSteel Limited.This experience made him by a distance the most accomplished corporate figure on the CA Board, making his voice one of the most respected among its nine members. Every’s links to cricket were also strong, via his close ties to the Sutherland Cricket Club in Sydney grade competition – having played more than 60 first-grade games, he remains the club’s patron.Mark Taylor, the former Test captain and longtime CA director, was close to Every after the pair had become friends due to past corporate links. Taylor had previously indicated that he was unlikely to serve another term as a CA director after he was reappointed at last year’s AGM for a further three years, but following Channel Nine’s loss of the rights to broadcast cricket in Australia he has been touted as a possible chairman. How Every’s departure affects Taylor’s thinking remains to be seen.Another area for concern about the reviews being conducted is the fact that the facilitator of the teams review, Peter Collins of the Centre for Ethical Leadership, is a longtime paid consultant of CA. Formerly with the management consulting firm McKinsey, Collins has worked closely with Sutherland in particular for many years, in addition to advising CA’s management team more generally. Still more significantly, Collins was also a mentor to Ricky Ponting during his early days as the national captain.”Peter’s leadership consulting projects include work around sexual predatory behaviour in Victoria Police’s response to the Victorian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (VHREOC), in sport (including work with the national cricket and rugby union teams for more than 10 years) and advising boards and leadership teams on cultural issues,” the centre’s website states.”He started his consulting career at McKinsey with a focus on organisational change and leadership, and has also worked in Federal Parliament for two cabinet ministers.”Questions about how seriously and strongly the dual reviews of CA and the national team would investigate the culture of Australian cricket intensified after the chief executive Sutherland unveiled Langer as coach last week, under the premise that the coach needed to have input into the process.Langer will duly serve on the review panel alongside its chairman Rick McCosker, the men’s Test captain Tim Paine, Pat Cummins, last summer’s stand-in women’s international captain Rachael Haynes, the former captain Shane Watson nominated by the Australian Cricketers Association, and the longtime Tasmania captain George Bailey.

Joe Root’s move back to No. 3 in the England Test side stems from his belief that the time is right for him to take on more responsibility in a top order that has struggled for consistency for too long.Trevor Bayliss, the England coach, has made no secret of the fact he believes first drop should be Root’s position – because he is England’s best batsman – but has stopped short of forcing the move on the captain who has previously said he prefers No. 4.However, after a winter in which England lost five of their seven Tests against Australia and New Zealand, Root has made the decision to elevate himself in the first side picked under new national selector Ed Smith, following the axing of James Vince.”I think it’s an opportunity for me to take on a bit more responsibility at the top of the order,” Root said. “I’ve had a year in the captaincy now and I feel I’ve gained enough experience to feel comfortable doing that.”It is not a new role for Root, he has played 31 innings at No. 3 and made his highest Test score of 254 against Pakistan in 2016, although his average of 43.96 is considerably lower than his career mark of 52.63 and he moved back down the order at the start of the previous English season when he was named captain. Since then, Gary Ballance, Tom Westley and Vince have failed to nail down the spot.

Joe Root on…

Ed Smith “Ed’s very clear how he wants to go about things and we made sure we didn’t leave anything untalked about during that meeting. We left happy with the squad we had for this first Test. He spoke exceptionally well about how he wanted to do things moving forward so I’m very excited about that.”
Dom Bess “I have netted against him. He has trained with us a couple of times last summer. He has performed under pressure when needed to take wickets and win games. For a young man to do that speaks volumes of his character. It is hard on Jack. He made a promising start to his career in New Zealand.”
Moeen Ali “He has played 50 Tests for England and done some wonderful things. Ultimately he sees himself as a batter and he is most useful for us scoring a shedload of runs and being an option as a second spinner. It is a good opportunity to go to Worcester and bang the door down again.”

Root did go back to No. 3 against New Zealand in Auckland – the match in which England were 27 for 9 and bowled out for 58 – but that was purely as a response to needing an extra bowler to cover for Ben Stokes. The next Test in Christchurch saw Vince recalled and Root back at four but this time the move has a feeling of more permanency about it.England also need Root to get back to converting half-centuries into hundreds, something he has done only two of the 14 times he has passed fifty as captain (although he can be excused the retired ill in Sydney). He has lost ground on the contemporaries he is often bracketed with among the best batsmen of his generation – Kane Williamson, Virat Kohli and Steven Smith – although Smith now finds himself indisposed in that tussle for at least a year.”For me it was getting used to the role of captain and making sure I could separate the two and make sure my full focus was on my batting when it came around,” Root said at the launch of England’s 2018 New Balance kit. “I feel that I’m able to do that now and will go out to try to set the tone and score as many runs as I can from that position.”I did it [No. 3] for one game in New Zealand and it didn’t work out there but this is a great opportunity to do it at home and it’s a great opportunity moving forward so I’m really excited. Ultimately nothing will change about the way I go about my batting. I will look to have that hunger and desire to make really big runs.”Root’s move is part of a larger reshuffle of England’s top order as they attempt to solve the batting issues which were on display throughout the winter: the seven Tests brought just four centuries and one of those was from Jonny Bairstow at No. 7 in Christchurch. Alongside Root’s move to three, Bairstow will take the No. 5 slot while retaining the keeping gloves.Joe Root gets to a fifty every 2.4 innings, but goes on to make a big one only one out of four times•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“It’s an opportunity to get Jonny batting at five or six and on the back of this winter he’s proven he’s a consistent performer and deserves an opportunity to do it at the top of the order as well as the back end of an innings,” Root said. “I think it gives us a real opportunity to put a lot of pressure on sides especially if we’re in a position of strength and can get our best batters of the last couple of years in the top six.”The role of lower-order enforcer or recovery artist – depending on the match situation – has gone to Jos Buttler, one of the eye-catching selections in Smith’s first squad, who has been recalled as a batsman-only after 18 months out of the Test side and despite playing scant red-ball cricket over that time. Root was excited about what Buttler could bring, but admitted it could take time for the new batting order to knit together.”He has done some very special things in one-day and T20 cricket and won games when he has been under pressure. Now there is an opportunity for him to do that in Test cricket. I can see him putting a lot of bums on seats. That is very exciting for me. He can change a game in half an hour with the bat.”It is an exciting time for him. It is really important he does not put too much pressure on himself. It is about expressing himself and finding that consistency that he wants and play those innings that can put us in a strong position. It is exciting but it might be something that takes a bit of time to come right.”

Billed favourites to book the final two spots for the forthcoming Women’s World T20 in the Caribbean, Bangladesh and Ireland lived up to the tag in the eight-team qualifying tournament with convincing semi-final wins over Scotland and Papua New Guinea. A victory in the final on Saturday will be as much a contest for bragging rights as it will to validate or reverse the result of the 2015 edition, where Bangladesh finished second behind Ireland.Either Bangladesh or Ireland will face West Indies (in Group A) or Australia (in Group B) in the World T20 opener on November 9 and 11 respectively, pending the result in the final.Ranked ninth and tenth on the ICC multi-format women’s team rankings, Bangladesh finished atop Group A with a 49-run victory at the VRA Ground in Amstelveen hours within Ireland topped Group B by defeating PNG by 27 runs at the venue.Ireland Women players celebrate a wicket•Getty Images/ICC

Bangladesh’s entry into the World T20 comes on the back of a maiden Asia-Cup title-winning campaign in June, where they stunned heavyweights India twice. Ireland, meanwhile, recovered from big-margin, limited-overs series defeats against New Zealand and a 2-1 T20I series defeat against Bangladesh – both at home – less two weeks ago.An unbeaten, three-match-winning streak heading into the semi-final meant the crucial tie against Scotland was only for Ireland’s to lose. Having being put in at the toss by PNG, a wicket off the second ball of the game inspired hopes of a potential upset, but only momentarily. A top-score of 36 from the in-form Gaby Lewis anchored a 47-run second-wicket stand for Ireland, before Lucy O’Reilly’s career-best 3 for 13 rolled over PNG for 86 in 19.2 overs.For Bangladesh, their in-form opening pair of Shamima Sultana and Ayasha Rahman – who had laid the platform for the victors in the low-scoring Asia Cup final – added 51 in 6.5 overs, before middle-order batsman Nigar Sultana’s 31 lifted them to 125 for 6.Scotland wobbled early in the chase, losing opener Rachael Scholes to Bangladesh captain Salma Khatun in the fourth over. But the Bryce sisters – Sarah and captain Kathryn – kept Scotland’s hopes alive, with Sarah collecting a dogged 31 that took Scotland past 50 – in the 13th over.It was, however, a timely strike from legspinner Fahima Khatun, who, on Tuesday became the first Bangladesh bowler – male or female to take a T20I hat-trick, that sent back Sarah and triggered a collapse. Scotland lost 7 for 14 over the following three overs, and the four combined wickets from Nahida Akter and vice-captain Rumana Ahmed strangled them to 76 for 7 snuffed out their hopes of qualification.