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ScorecardTHE brilliant form of opener Alex Davies helped Lancashire into the Vitality Blast quarter-finals, joining a Durham side whose remarkable run ended disastrously.After eight wins in their last nine games, they crashed to 4 for 4 in reply to 143 for six and finally struggled to 78 all out in 15.2 overs. Their previous lowest 20-over total was 93 against Kent at Canterbury in a 2009 quarter-final.Durham need to avoid defeat in their final group game at home to Derbyshire on Friday to be certain of a home tie in the quarter-finals. Lancashire, who finish at Edgbaston on Wednesday, are a point behind them.They also made a troubled start after being put in under heavy skies following rain at Chester-le-Street. But they recovered from 6 for 2 through Davies’s sixth half-century from 12 innings.His 64 from 62 balls contained only six fours, but his bustling style kept the score ticking over while holding things together before he fell to the last ball of the innings.Liam Trevaskis, who took three wickets when Lancashire needed only six runs off the final over against Durham at Old Trafford, was absent ill and Durham relied on seam until leg-spinner Ben Whitehad bowled two tidy overs late in the innings.Only two came off Chris Rushworth’s opening over then Karl Brown drove at Mark Wood’s second ball and lost his off stump. Four balls later a wild heave across the line resulted in Aaron Lilley edging behind and only 14 came from the first four overs.Davies and Dane Vilas cut loose with 27 off the next two, only for Vilas to drive well wide of off stump at Nathan Rimmington’s first ball and edge a second catch to Stuart Poynter.The same combination accounted for Jordan Clark after a 20-minute rain break and at the halfway stage Lancashire were 63 for four.Steven Croft contributed 30 to a stand of 47 before skying Rimmington to short fine leg and the Australian finished with four for 28 when Davies fell in identical fashion to Vilas.James Faulkner followed his unbeaten 18 by swinging one away to have Durham skipper Tom Latham caught behind third ball. Will Smith edged a drive two overs later and Graham Clark went the same way against Toby Lester.Paul Collingwood drove Lester straight to short extra cover, but rather than go for the jugular Lancashire rested Faulkner with figures of 2-1-3-2 and Durham briefly got into the game with 24 off two overs from Danny Lamb.But after the two wicketkeepers, Poynter and Ryan Davies, had put on 40 Matt Parkinson accepted a return catch off his first ball to remove Poynter. Although Davies swept him for six on his way to the top score of 27, the leg-spinner finished with three for 19 and 19-year-old Afghan Zahir Khan wrapped it up with two for eight.

How big a victory is this?
In the four years I have been doing this job, if you look at a clinical performance overseas, this has to be the best. South Africa [the Wanderers Test victory] was gutsy, that was a nasty track. But this was clinical. When you look at all three departments, they stood up. As a batting unit, as a catching unit and as a bowling unit.After all the backlash at home following the Lord’s Test, how happy are you with the batsmen coming into form and sort of making a statement?
Was there a backlash at home? Because we don’t read what’s written back home. Yes, disappointed because we ran England close in the first Test match. We are blown away at Lord’s, so we needed to prove a point. And all I asked the boys was to give me some accountability and they were simply magnificent in all three departments of the game.What was said in the change room between the Tests, because for a team 2-nil down to come back is not easy. To mentally keep standing is difficult, so what was said?
Very little practice, mental rest.What was your message to the players?
Clear your heads and show me some accountability.Can you expand on how you wanted the batsmen to apply themselves?
Mental discipline. Get tough mentally. You are going to look ugly. You will have to leave a lot of balls. There is no shortcut. You will have to grind the opposition down when the opposition has Broad and Anderson, who have got close to a 1000 wickets between them playing in their conditions. There is no shortcuts. I don’t care who you are. You have got to tell yourself, if I need a hundred I have to bat five hours. Five-six hours to get a hundred. So you challenge yourself to bat those five-six hours, not one-two hours.Don Bradman’s team is the only team to have won from 2-0 down, Australia’s 3-2 win in 1936-37 Ashes. Is that something you’re going to tell the boys, because it is huge, the relevance of this victory…
1936-37, I wasn’t even born man! Why are you reminding me of ’36-37? One match at a time, we live in the present, okay? One game at a time. Nottingham is over. There’s a break and we move to Southampton and start afresh. Take a fresh guard. 2018.England put India in to bat. Do you think that decision was because they thought they could blow the Indian batsmen away?
I can see where England came from because India had been dismissed so cheaply at Lord’s. They must have thought why not get a crack at India early. And if we [England] can rattle them early and bowl them out on day one, you might have the advantage. But then again, our boys showed a lot of character, withstood that test and came out with flying colours.You would have batted first?
We would’ve batted, yeah.Is this the best pace attack India has ever had?
By a mile. By a mile. No team comes even close.Do you reckon India will have the upper hand going into the last two Tests?
They [India] will be thinking positively, but this is over. Like I said, you start afresh. Take one day at a time and execute your plans to the best of your ability. If you can do that, you will always compete.The message before this Test was mental discipline. What message do you give them now?
Same thing. We have had three back-to-back Test matches. It has been hard. Take a break. Remember all the good things you did in this Test match and take it forward. But remember you have got to start afresh.Can you give us an update on R Ashwin’s fitness?
Ashwin will be okay. The fact that he bowled 20-25 overs clearly suggests it [the hip injury] is not that bad. This break will be ideal for him. If there was a Test match starting in three days’ time, then it would have been a problem.Is Bhuvneshwar Kumar fit and available for selection for the last two Tests?
I have not had a word with the selectors, but they will be picking the side either today or tomorrow.

Moeen Ali believes there is no need for sledging to involve personal insults, after it was confirmed that Cricket Australia would be taking no further action in the wake of his allegations that a member of Australia’s 2015 Ashes squad had called him “Osama” during the Cardiff Test match.Speaking to BBC Radio 4, Moeen insisted he was happy to move on from an incident which occurred three years ago, but which came to light in a serialised extract of his forthcoming autobiography. However, he didn’t rule out the possibility that he could come up against the same unnamed individual in next year’s Ashes.”That was probably the one [comment] that stands out,” Moeen told the programme. “You always get stuff from the crowd, but that was the one that really upset me, I can’t believe he actually said that. But you move on and try and get on with performing for England. It was investigated and it’s all done now, and it’s in the past.”In the wake of Moeen’s allegations, CA’s integrity unit interviewed numerous Australian players from the 2015 Cardiff Test and team management, while also communicating with the ECB’s own integrity unit. And though they reiterated their “zero-tolerance approach to remarks of this nature”, they concluded that no new evidence had come to light.Though Moeen conceded that sledging was an accepted tactic for putting an opponent off their game, he felt that the incident in question had crossed the line. “One hundred percent,” he said. “If that is trying to put your opponent off … there’s no room for that in life in general, not just in sports.”There are ways of putting your opponent off,” he added. “Sometimes you don’t need to say anything. Sometime you can intimidate your opponent just by standing there. There’s ways of doing it, but it’s not my sort of way, you just get on with it.”Sledging has never been personal, from the stories I hear, it’s been serious but in good humour. More of a mental thing, rather than going personal and taking it too far.”Personally I don’t do anything,” he added. “I don’t feel like I need to. You can have the passion, but for me it’s more about being a good person and trying to play cricket the right way.”Asked whether he was likely to face his abuser in the Ashes next summer, Moeen insisted he was not looking any further ahead than the tour of Sri Lanka next month. “I don’t know if I’ll be in the squad next year,” he said. “If I ever come up against him or someone in that mindset, so be it, but it doesn’t bother me.”

Marcus Harris, the Victoria opening batsman, has been rewarded for consistency over several seasons by vaulting into Australia’s 14-man Test squad for the first two Tests against India, while Peter Handscomb has also been recalled after a winter’s technical work as part of a team seeking to overcome the absence of the banned Steven Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft.The inclusion of Harris comes after consecutive seasons in which he has tallied 1,514 runs at 42.05 and followed up with 437 at 87.40 in four Sheffield Shield rounds this season, including an unbeaten 250 against New South Wales. His selection sends a strong message about the sort of sustained performances the coach Justin Langer is seeking, while also opening up the question of Australia’s opening combination.

Australia squad

Marcus Harris, Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Chris Tremain, Peter Siddle, Peter Handscomb

Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja formed a successful union in the Tests against Pakistan in the UAE, before the latter fell prey to a knee injury he has only just recovered from in time for the final Sheffield Shield round. While praising Harris, Langer said he was still pondering how to array the batting order in Adelaide.”I really like the synergy of Finch and Khawaja in the UAE. Like a lot of opening partners a bit of an odd couple about them, and often really good partnerships are like that,” Langer said in Melbourne. “You think about [Chris] Rogers and [David] Warner, [Gordon] Greenidge and [Desmond] Haynes… they’re very different and I just like that synergy and a good relationship. Uzzy’s very chilled out, Finchy is a bit more combative, they have a nice feel about that partnership.”There’s a lot of talk about Finch can’t open in Australia and all that sort of stuff, I’m not sure about that. He’s opened all through [with the] white ball, did a really good job in the UAE, conditions might be a bit different, we’re not playing at the Gabba or the WACA either. That’s one of the things we’re mulling over at the moment, the perfect combination, we also respect that the Indians have got really good spin bowlers, we’ve got five left-handers in that seven at the moment potentially. All those things we’re going to play around with and make sure we get the best combination we can.”Despite his strong words about Finch at the top of the order, Langer insisted he would allow Victoria to make their own call about where he batted in the Shield match between Victoria and Queensland in Brisbane from Tuesday. This means Harris will likely be accompanied by his usual partner Travis Dean at the top, with Finch slotting in further down.”Marcus Harris has forced his way into the squad after an impressive start to the Sheffield Shield campaign for Victoria, and in recent times has performed in high-pressure matches, including Sheffield Shield finals,” the national selector Trevor Hohns said. “Not only has he made plenty of runs, he’s displayed the mental application we believe is required to compete at Test cricket.”When he made the move from Western Australia to Victoria, Harris was farewelled with some curious comments by the then Warriors coach Langer, who referred to him as “mediocre with flashes of brilliance”, while adding that “our system isn’t for everyone”. However he has always maintained that his relationship with Langer remained strong, and on the day of his call-up received a message from the coach with the cheekily affectionate words “welcome to the brotherhood you little bastard”.His call-up also leaves the left-hand opener Matt Renshaw on the sidelines once more, after he was left out of the Test team in the UAE. Marnus Labuschagne has also been dropped, but Travis Head retains his place. A late run by the Tasmanian Matthew Wade, now a specialist batsman alongside the Test captain and wicketkeeper Tim Paine, was not enough to win inclusion.”Marnus Labuschagne played the last two Tests and looked really good at times, and there was talk about his legspin bowling as well. They’re all unlucky, but you can only fit 14 into the squad,” Langer said. “But you’ve got to reward performance and they’d be the first to say… Matthew Renshaw I think has got huge potential, but he hasn’t got the runs on the board at the moment.”Marnus, the same, he’s come back and his numbers aren’t great for the first four Shield games, so he’ll be disappointed because no one works harder than he does. And Matthew Wade, we all know he’s a fantastic competitor, a really good competitor, doing well, but you can’t fit them all in.”Looking over the remainder of the batting order, Langer declared that Head would “100%” play in the middle order in Adelaide, and also defended the retention of Mitchell Marsh – a poor tour of the UAE was followed by strong Shield displays from him. “Mitch Marsh is an incredibly talented player, I don’t get some of the criticism of him and his brother,” Langer said. “Test cricket’s a very tough school, and I think sometimes people forget how tough Test cricket is.”Handscomb, who has worked extensively with the former Test opener Chris Rogers on his movement at the batting crease, is the extra batsman in the squad, nominally as cover for Khawaja, who will return from a knee injury in Queensland’s final Shield game before the Test. “We’ve been really impressed with the way Usman Khawaja has applied himself through his rehabilitation and he’s left no stone unturned in his bid to return in Adelaide,” Hohns said. “Barring any setbacks, all the signs are indicating he will be available for the first Test. We saw how well he performed against Pakistan in the UAE, and we hope he can recapture that form over the summer.”A vast collection of fast bowlers has been assembled, with Chris Tremain, uncapped at Test level, and Peter Siddle standing in reserve behind the frontline trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins. Hohns added that the 14-man squad will be cut to 12 names before each of the first two Tests with the next round of Sheffield Shield matches acting as a mini Test-trial for those aiming to further their case.”We will select a final team of 12 prior to each Test, and the two remaining squad members will be released to get important match time in the Sheffield Shield. We believe all players chosen deserve their selection in the squad, and we’re confident given the opportunity all will apply themselves well against India.””With another round of Sheffield Shield matches to play, players have the chance to strengthen their cases for selection before we finalise the 12 in the lead up to the first Test.”None of the frontline pace trio of Cummins, Hazlewood are Starc are expected to make the trip to Perth for their state New South Wales’ final Shield fixture before the Adelaide Test, with back-to-back matches against India expected to stretch their endurance. “There’s no concern for Mitch, Pat and Josh,” Langer said. “They’ll be ready to go.”

Left-arm seamer Charles Waiswa produced a fantastic spell with the old ball, polishing off the last four Denmark wickets in the space of 13 deliveries to set up a five-wicket win for Uganda. Arnold Otwani followed with a classy 88 in the chase of 166 to help Uganda secure an early net run-rate advantage over the tournament field.Denmark got off to a strong start after winning the toss and choosing to bat. Bilal Hassun struggled with his lines against the left-right combo of Freddie Klokker and Hamid Shah in his three-over spell that went for 25 runs as Denmark reached 45 for 0.Riazat Ali Shah made the initial breakthrough coming on at first change, getting both openers to prod edges behind to Man of the Match Otwani. The left-right spin combo of Irfan Afridi and Henry Ssenyondo put the brakes on Denmark’s scoring in a three-maiden sequence from the 16th through 18th. The pressure resulted in Afridi claiming the wicket of Taranjit Bharaj, and Ssenyondo struck twice to reduce Denmark to 82 for 5.Denmark rebuilt through a 48-run stand between Saif Ahmad and Henriksen, then later another 28-run partnership between Mads and his brother Jonas. However, Waiswa ran through the tail in his second spell, ending with 4 for 25 and leaving Denmark at least 40 runs below the par score.Otwani had been dropped after Uganda’s debacle on home soil at WCL Division Three last year and missed the team’s promotion run in Malaysia this past April but vindicated his recall to the squad with a sensational innings. Overcoming the early loss of his captain Roger Mukasa, Otwani cut through point then drove over cover for back-to-back fours to get off the mark.Otwani struck six boundaries in the space of eight balls across the seventh and eighth overs to leave Denmark reeling. A sweep behind square for his tenth boundary brought up his fifty off 46 balls, before he began peppering the gap between backward point and short third man for another flurry of fours.Otwani fell 12 short of his ton trying to pierce the gap again, caught at short third man. But by that stage, Uganda needed just 36 off the last 21 overs. Riazat dashed any hopes of a Denmark rally by striking his second and third balls down the ground for four, his unbeaten 29 taking Denmark home with 82 balls remaining.Oman captain Zeeshan Maqsood pulls through midwicket for a boundary to clinch victory•Peter Della Penna

Oman‘s dominance over Kenya from February at Division Two in Namibia continued on Friday, as the WCL Division Three hosts scored a commanding five-wicket win at the Oman Cricket Academy in Al Amerat.Oman had swept Kenya in a pair of matches this past February and the visitors were no match for the home side on this occasion either, slipping to 8 for 3 in the Powerplay before eventually succumbing for 164.Bilal Khan, who took a five-for the last time these two teams played, struck on the fifth ball of the match by beating Alex Obanda for pace and knocking back his stumps for a duck. Kenya also struggled with Kaleemullah’s height and bounce as a series of maidens built pressure, resulting in another wicket for Bilal. Jatinder Singh took his second catch in the slips in the following over as Kaleemullah followed up Bilal’s early strikes to get Dhiren Gondaria for the first of his four wickets.Kenya grinded their way through much of the rest of the innings, valiantly lasting until the 50th over.Oman’s chase got off to a typically fiery start behind Aqib Ilyas, who stroked five boundaries in his 22 off 20 balls before falling leg before to Nelson Odhiambo. Fellow opener Jatinder grinded out 33 off 49 balls before he was dismissed by Bhudia’s spin, opening the door for captain Zeeshan Maqsood to steer the rest of the chase.Despite needing just 31 more to win over the final 18 overs and six wickets in hand, Oman took a peculiarly cautious approach in a format where the net run-rate tiebreaker can be crucial by the final day. They took until the 43rd over when Maqsood, who in the past has had a reputation for rapid scoring as an opening batsman, finally brought up his half-century off 93 balls, ending the match with his fifth boundary.

Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir is set to retire from all cricket, calling time on a career that began in 1999-2000, and has lasted almost two decades. His last match will be Delhi’s Ranji Trophy match against Andhra at his home ground, Feroz Shah Kotla, beginning on December 6.Gambhir announced his retirement through a video on social media. He admitted he had been “contemplating” and “dreading” quitting the game, but the “negative noises” were only increasing everyday, eventually forcing him to take the call. “It slapped me hard when I got those three ducks in a row in the 2014 IPL,” Gamhir said. “Then again when I had a dreadful tour to England the same year. In 2016 I was on my knees again. I was dropped after Rajkot Test match against England. I was searching for my confidence in that deep, dark pit but I could only lay my hands on the same sharp, disturbing noise. It said the same: ‘IT IS OVER GAUTI’.”Gambhir’s last appearance for India came in the first Test of the home series against England in late 2016. Overall, Gambhir, 37, played 58 Tests, scoring 4154 runs at an average of 41.95, including nine centuries and 22 fifties. He played 147 ODIs, scoring 5238 runs at an average of 39.68 and a strike-rate of 85.25. Gambhir also played 37 T20Is, scoring 932 runs at a strike-rate of 119.02.Gambhir was part of two World Cup triumphs for India, top-scoring in both finals. He made 75 in the 2007 World T20 final, when India beat Pakistan by five runs. In the 2011 World Cup final, batting at No.3, he scored 97 to revive India after Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar had fallen early. MS Dhoni sealed the title with a six while his batting partner Yuvraj Singh finished as Player of the Tournament, but India might not have crossed the finish line without Gambhir’s steely presence in the top order.ESPNcricinfo

Gambhir formed one of India’s most stable and durable opening partnerships in world cricket with Sehwag, the duo putting on a record (for India) 4412 runs in 87 innings together from 2004 to 2012. Their tally is the fifth best for any pair of openers in Test cricket. Gambhir was also part of the India team that ascended to the No.1 spot in Test cricket in 2009 under MS Dhoni, and his rich vein of form in 2008 and 2009 earned him the ICC Test Player of the Year award in 2009.Between 2008 and 2010, Gambhir made at least one half-century in 11 consecutive Test matches, equalling the record of Vivian Richards, who had achieved the same feat in 1976-1977. In that period, Gambhir also hit centuries in five consecutive Tests in 2009-10, the joint second-longest such streak. In 2009, he was ranked the No.1 batsman in Test cricket in the ICC’s rankings. During this period, Gambhir also played what is commonly regarded as his greatest Test innings, staying at the crease for 643 minutes while making 137 when India were following-on against New Zealand in Napier. Gambhir’s vigil let India draw the Test and complete a rare series win against New Zealand.Gambhir also led India in six ODIs, a five-match series against New Zealand in late 2010, and a solitary ODI against West Indies in December 2011.Though Gambhir could not make a comeback to the India side after 2016, he continued to play domestic cricket for Delhi. He enjoyed being the mentor more than the performer, and even declined captaincy allowing younger players like Rishabh Pant and Nitish Rana to take leadership roles.However, the old fears returned to haunt him when Gambhir struggled at the start of IPL 2018 after returning to Delhi Daredevils, having been released by Kolkata Knight Riders – a team he had led to IPL titles in 2012 and 2014. Gambhir said he realised then his “time was up” and he could fight no further. “After more than 15 years of cricket for my country I want to retire from playing this beautiful game.”Gambhir said the memories he would cherish were the happier ones, none bigger than being the highest scorer in the two World Cup finals he played in. He also looked back fondly on being part of the No.1 Test team, and winning the triangular CB series in Australia in 2008. “This may sound a little wishful but I’ve seen wishes come true,” he said. “Two World Cups, highest run-getter in the final of both of these games is the stuff dreams are made of.”Somewhere on the top is being the No. 1 Test team in the world. A trophy I’ll look at very fondly is the one I got for being awarded the ICC best Test batsman of the year in 2009. For a purist like me, it is a reward for somewhat knowing where my off stump was. The historic series win in New Zealand and the CB series in Australia will be reflected upon fondly. But I hope the current Indian team Down Under can overshadow our feats.”Among his other domestic accomplishments, Gambhir led Delhi to the Ranji Trophy title in 2007-08. He was also looking forward to the final chapter of his cricketing journey being at his home ground. “It is all coming to an end from where it started at Feroz Shah Kotla. I am a big one on loyalty. I am glad that I could finish with teams that I started my journey with. In this case ending with both Delhi Daredevils and Delhi domestic side has given me immense satisfaction.”Gambhir said he had always valued “timing” in his game and that had gone missing, signalling it was time to move on. “As a batsman I have always valued timing. I know the time is just right. I am sure it’s sweet as well. Goodbye and good luck.”

Ashley Giles has played down any suggestion of a rift between himself and Andy Flower on his first day as the ECB’s new director of England cricket, and insists that the difficulties the pair endured as concurrent head coaches of the one-day and Test squads back in 2013-14 does not mean that the principle of split coaching should be ruled out going forward.One of Giles’ first duties, in the wake of his unveiling at Lord’s on Wednesday morning, will be to begin the search for England’s new head coach, with the current incumbent, Trevor Bayliss, due to stand down after this summer’s double-header of the World Cup and the Ashes.Bayliss, who was appointed by Giles’ predecessor Andrew Strauss back in 2015, has indicated that he will not be seeking an extension to his contract, and with England due to fly out to the Caribbean to begin their Test series against West Indies on Friday, Giles knows that a smooth transition will be crucial to England’s fortunes.”I’m hoping to catch up with Trev over the next couple of days down at the airport before they fly off but he’s made it pretty clear he’s leaving,” Giles told Talksport.”Clearly the new coaching structure is going to be front and centre and there’s a lot to think about. There’s been a lot made of two coaches – one specialist under one [head] coach. There are a lot of different options and I need some time to look at everything.””Myself and Andy Flower split the role. I think it can work, absolutely. The challenges of one guy doing it is the workload, especially going into the next couple of years with the World Test Championship and T20 World Cups back-to-back.”Giles was sacked as England’s one-day coach in 2014 after an ignominious defeat to Netherlands sealed their fate in that year’s World T20, with Flower also departing following England’s dismal 5-0 defeat in the Ashes. England have resisted the temptation to split their coaching set-up since, with Peter Moores’ short-lived return giving way to the Bayliss era, in which he has worked closely across all formats with his long-term deputy, Paul Farbrace.However, looking back on the events of that turbulent winter, Giles insisted it was an issue of timing, rather than personality, that sealed the fate of England’s teams. However, he added that crucial lessons would have to be learnt if England are to head down a similar route in the future.”There’s no problem with mine and Andy’s relationship,” he told Sky Sports. “We worked as the two head coaches, but I think the timing was tricky. The cycle we were going through as a team, the unravelling of that side through that Ashes in Australia and of course the Netherlands debacle in Bangladesh when I was T20 head coach at the World Cup.”It was not a great period for both of us, but does that mean that split coaches can’t work? I don’t think so. We need to look at all options going forward, but one thing that myself and Andy are, are different people.”And when you lead environments, there are different cultures and there’s going to be slightly different messaging. That’s not that one’s right and one’s wrong, we’re just different people and that’s something to think about going forward.”Giles was appointed by the ECB last month, after Strauss decided to step down in order to spend more time with his family. Strauss’ wife, Ruth, died in December after a year-long battle with cancer.

Tasmania seamer Jackson Bird reminded the selectors of his skill with the Dukes ball claiming four wickets to give the Tigers the upper hand against South Australia on in Adelaide.Bird, who has played one Test in England during the 2013 Ashes but hasn’t featured for Australia since his Boxing Day outing against England in 2017-18, put on a fine display of swing and seam bowling as the Redbacks were all out for 257 after winning the toss and electing to bat.Bird was a touch fortunate to claim his first wicket with newly promoted No.3 Jake Lehmann spooning a length ball to cover where Jordan Silk took an exceptional catch diving to his right.But his next two were trademark good-length outswingers to nibble the edges of Callum Ferguson and Tom Cooper’s bats to leave the Redbacks struggling at 5 for 109.Captain Travis Head had made 50 of those and looked set to continue his outstanding form from the Sri Lanka Test series before wafting at a wide ball from Tom Rogers and edging to keeper Tim Paine.The Redbacks lower order mounted a salvage mission with keeper Harry Nielsen and seamer Joe Mennie both contributing 43. Mennie remained unbeaten after striking five fours and a six in a final-wicket stand of 64 with Chadd SayersEven Tasmania captain Matthew Wade was able to cash in on a day where he wasn’t wearing the gloves, claiming the wicket of Cam Valente who slapped a full toss straight to gully.Bird took the last of the innings to finish with 4 for 53 from 18.3 overs before Tasmania’s openers, Jordan Silk and Alex Doolan, got through to stumps unscathed.

Kevin Roberts, the Cricket Australia chief executive, has called for anyone with evidence of the national team tampering with the ball prior to the Newlands Test to come forward. Roberts also conceded that further revelations about the scandal 12 months ago would be damaging to the game.Speaking at the Melbourne Press Club a year on from the Cape Town Test that saw Cameron Bancroft exposed for attempting to use sandpaper to tamper with the ball, as advised by David Warner and tacitly approved by Steven Smith, Roberts defended the swift investigation conducted by the former head of integrity Iain Roy. Roberts also responded to the former CA Board director Mark Taylor’s comments that the limitation of the probe to the Cape Town Test left a “grey area” around whether the Australians had tampered with the ball previously.”There’s no doubt that that would affect the way that cricket fans and the general public views cricket, that’s for sure,” Roberts said when asked whether further revelations would be damaging to cricket. “I suppose we’re dealing with the ‘what is’ rather than the ‘what ifs’. We could jump at shadows, we could react to innuendo. If facts come to light we’ll be addressing those, and if that means there’s issues for us in the short term because we do the right thing then so be it, because it’ll benefit the integrity and reputation of the sport that we love in the long term.”Plenty of questions remain unanswered, with CA caught between preserving reputations and trying to regain trust with the Australian public. Corporate confidentiality clauses have been a feature of settlements for former CA employees connected to the scandal, with the ex-assistant coach David Saker notable for his silence since he resigned his post with the national team at the end of the home Test summer. Saker is believed to be subject to a non-disclosure agreement that will expire after this year’s Ashes series in September.Warner and Smith, meanwhile, have been carefully managed in their comments on their way back to national representation after the bans, though it is believed that Warner in particular has been involved in discussions about writing an autobiography that would shed greater light on his part in the scandal and his role within the team.”All current and former employees, like any organisation, have confidentiality obligations,” Roberts said. “That’s not CA being heavy handed, I’m sure people in the room here have had a look at your own employment agreements and clauses in there so there’s nothing unusual about that. At the same time we don’t want to control or muzzle people in cricket.”The richness of debate in cricket is fantastic … we embrace that passion, we embrace that debate. I guess it’s a balance, we all need to respect our confidentiality obligations but we also need to ensure we’re being fair dinkum towards this notion that we want to enable and empower people in cricket rather than control. It’s not always simple to walk that fine line but it’s something we try to do.”Getty Images

On the subject of the investigation conducted over 48 hours between the Cape Town and Johannesburg Tests at the end of the South Africa series last year, Roberts pointed out that there was time pressure created by the need to field a team in the final match, without knowing how many players would be implicated. In contrast to earlier in the summer when he stated that the “thorough” investigation required no more probing, he called upon any member of the Australian cricket community with further evidence to come forward.”If they’ve got any concerns about ball tampering or any concerns about any integrity issue in the game, we’ve invited them to report that through our anonymous integrity hotline or through other means that are available to them,” Roberts said. “We haven’t had any such reports, so we won’t jump at shadows, but if anyone does report concerns about any integrity matter prior to ball tampering or whatever it may be, we’re serious about addressing that, and we have a process to address it.”We’re really serious about addressing any unresolved issues and we’re sincere in the way we’re going about that. So if there are any reports or allegations as opposed to innuendo, then we will investigate that thoroughly.”Certainly the investigation needed to be conducted swiftly, we needed to fulfil our commitment to field a team against South Africa the following week, and we didn’t know whether we’d need to fly 11 new players in to fill that team or no new players. The ultimate answer was somewhere in between. So the investigation was absolutely fit for purpose, but we haven’t rested on those laurels. We’ve made repeated and extensive invitations to anyone to report any integrity matters or concerns about ball tampering ever since.”Following a home summer that presented numerous challenges, not least heavy defeats to South Africa and India before some solace was taken from a pummelling of Sri Lanka, the ODI team under the captaincy of Aaron Finch has run into strong form and growing confidence in India, and the UAE against Pakistan. Roberts denied he was concerned that the returns of Smith and Warner to that team would destabilise what has been building, while also stating that he did not expect the team to be a collection of best mates.”Justin [Langer], the leadership of the Test team and the white-ball teams in the form of Tim [Paine] and Aaron, they’ve had just about a year and they’ve spent a long time together, a lot of time on the road, that’s a whole lot more intense than turning up to a radio station or an office to work with your colleagues,” he said. “A year of this rebuild and a year of doing that together in sport, is probably like three years in the business world or the media or some other world. So I’m not concerned but we are very focused on ensuring that positive momentum continues.”In any workplace we don’t need to be best mates with everyone that we work with. There needs to be a foundation of respect absolutely, and I think there’s growing respect there and we’ll continue to support the players with the right discussions and work those through. As to whether every player in the men’s team or women’s team is best mates with the rest of their team-mates, it’s not different to any other workplace where you’ll have some very close friendships, some cordial relationships and some that are a bit more challenging. But I don’t see it being beyond the realms of any other workplace.”

Rain continued to play havoc with the Wellington Test with two full days now washed out. The call-off came at 4.30 pm local time after umpires Ruchira Palliyaguruge and Paul Reiffel had conducted their third inspection.It probably didn’t help that there was no wind all day – which is ironic since this is the windy city – ensuring dark clouds kept hovering over Basin Reserve.Unlike the first day however, both the Bangladesh and the New Zealand players turned up at the ground at around 4 pm and there was likelihood of play for at least an hour in the evening session. But just after the groundstaff had completed most of their work, another spell of rain came by and ruined everything. There is more forecast of rain on the third day too.Bangladesh coach Steve Rhodes said it was a frustrating time for his team but probably best that neither side had to bat for such a short period in the third session.New Zealand’s batting coach Craig McMillan said, “Three days is a long time. Conditions are challenging for the batsmen. All three results are possible in this game. We have to be switched on tomorrow and ready to go.”The last time there was no play over the first two days of a Test in New Zealand was in 2001 – the Hamilton game between the same two teams.