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Kevin Pietersen has been ruled out of all cricket for up to eight weeks by the knee injury which has been troubling him during the New Zealand tour

Andrew McGlashan in Auckland20-Mar-2013Kevin Pietersen has been ruled out of all cricket for up to eight weeks by the knee injury which has been troubling him during the New Zealand tour. He will miss the deciding Test in Auckland, which starts on Friday, as well as the IPL with a view to him being fit for the Champions Trophy and the Ashes.The estimated recovery time makes Pietersen doubtful for the return series against New Zealand, beginning on May 16 at Lord’s. He first felt the problem, which could be caused by cartilage damage, during the warm-up match in Queenstown, although it only really came to light when he was absent for a session of the Dunedin Test. England were fielding at the time and it was played down as nothing serious. He made 0 and 12 in the first Test, and although he responded with 73 in Dunedin, he was never fluent but remained on the field.”Pietersen experienced knee pain while fielding in preparation for the four-day game in Queenstown earlier this month, ahead of the Test series,” the ECB said in a statement. “This has failed to resolve satisfactorily.”Recent scans confirm an injury to the right knee with bone bruising and possible cartilage damage to the kneecap. The 32-year-old will return to the UK for further investigations and specialist review.”The injury is likely to require ongoing assessments and a likely six-eight week period of rest and rehabilitation. Pietersen has therefore been withdrawn from all cricket including the Indian Premier League.”The fact Pietersen has not been kept on in New Zealand with the series at stake shows that time is already of the essence to get him ready for the main events of the English season. In 2009 he was forced out mid-way through the Ashes series with a career-threatening Achilles injury.Pietersen’s withdrawal will mean a likely recall to the middle order for Jonny Bairstow, the Yorkshire batsman who has not played since the Twenty20 series earlier in the tour. His previous Test was against India, in Mumbai, when he stood in for Ian Bell who went home for the birth of his child.It won’t be the first time Bairstow has replaced Pietersen in a Test line-up. He came in for the deciding match against South Africa, at Lord’s, last year following Pietersen’s dropping after the text-message controversy. Baristow responded with scores of 95 and 54. In five Tests he has scored 196 runs at 32.66.England will now be sweating on the fitness of two key players over the next two months. Graeme Swann is currently in the early stages of his recovery from elbow surgery after he was ruled out of the New Zealand tour on the morning of the first Test.

Pakistan put one foot in the final of the Asia Cup with a six-wicket win over a tired Sri Lankan outfit, which didn’t have enough steam needed to defend a modest 188

The Report by Kanishkaa Balachandran15-Mar-2012 by six wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAizaz Cheema came back well to pick up four wickets after getting pasted in his first two overs•Associated Press

Pakistan put one foot in the final of the Asia Cup with a six-wicket win over a tired Sri Lankan outfit, which did not have enough steam to defend a modest 188. Pakistan’s bowlers set up the win with a disciplined effort, and Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal compiled positive half-centuries to arrest a top-order wobble. Their eagerly anticipated clash with India on Sunday may not carry much context for them if India beat Bangladesh tomorrow, but Sri Lanka’s second consecutive defeat makes an India-Pakistan final likely.The defeat left a few important questions for Sri Lanka to answer after a long, strenuous season away from home, where they have had mixed results. Their shot-selection for one, starting from the seniors at the top, has been exposed, leaving plenty for the lower middle-order to do. With Upul Tharanga scoring another half-century at No.6, it strengthens his case for being reinstated as an opener, meaning that Mahela Jayawardene would have to move back down the order.The presence of Dilshan and Jayawardene at the top was aimed at giving Sri Lanka a strong start in a must-win game. They started aggressively today, but in their quest lost quick wickets. It was an underwhelming performance from a team that bats deep but did not have the application to match their talent.Jayawardene fell trying to drive past extra cover. Dilshan, after some crunching drives through the off side, fell off a miscued pull. The wicket was nicely set up by Aizaz Cheema, who peppered him with short deliveries and challenged him to target the on side, with a fielder in the deep. Two more soft dismissals, those of the young Dinesh Chandimal and Lahiru Thirimanne, put a lot of pressure on Kumar Sangakkara and Tharanga.They suffered in the bowling Powerplay, scoring only 11 runs. Their stand of 96 featured several singles, 61 of them, and five boundaries. Tharanga was comfortable against the spinners, picking up boundaries through the off side via deft cuts. Sangakkara, who began with a clipped boundary past midwicket, pounced on a short delivery from Mohammad Hafeez to bring up the fifty stand.

Smart stats

• The 152-run stand between Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal is the highest fourth-wicket stand for Pakistan against Sri Lanka. It is also the joint second-highest partnership for the fourth wicket in ODIs in Mirpur.

• Umar Gul became the tenth Pakistani bowler to reach the 150-wicket mark in ODIs. His average of 27.24 is bettered by five other bowlers on the list.

• Aizaz Cheema equalled his best bowling figures in ODIs (4 for 43). It is also the best bowling performance by a Pakistan bowler in ODIs against Sri Lanka played in Bangladesh.

• The 61 balls remaining at the end is third on the list of most deliveries remaining in a Pakistan win over Sri Lanka.

• Misbah has now scored 19 half-centuries in ODIs. In 13 matches against Sri Lanka, Misbah has scored five half-centuries and averages 48.00.

• Akmal’s 77 is his fifth fifty-plus score against Sri Lanka and his 14th half-century in ODIs. Against Sri Lanka, Akmal has scored 470 runs at 52.22 with one century and four fifties.

• The 96-run stand between Kumar Sangakkara and Upul Tharanga is the fourth-highest fifth-wicket stand for Sri Lanka against Pakistan and is also fourth on the list of highest fifth-wicket stands in Mirpur.

Sri Lanka once again succumbed to a familiar weakness – the batting Powerplay. As it happened against India, they lost their foothold in the first over of the field restrictions. Saeed Ajmal was taken off after the bowling Powerplay but Misbah brought him back at the start of the 36th over. He struck by bowling Tharanga with the doosra, before inducing a poor shot from Farveez Maharoof. Sangakkara tried to force the pace by charging Cheema but ended up dragging the ball onto the stumps. His reaction after being dismissed, swishing the air with his bat, summed up Sri Lanka’s problems.Pakistan picked up the last six wickets for just 27 runs and it was largely due to Sri Lanka’s inability to read Ajmal’s doosra. Cheema went on to take four wickets while Ajmal took three. It was an especially satisfying display by Cheema, who got a pasting early on but backed himself to bowl fast and attack the batsmen.A timid start by Pakistan, which included the loss of three wickets, gave Sri Lanka hope of defending a modest 188. Jayawardene, maintaining a stony expression, had plenty to expect from his beefed-up bowling attack, and they responded by trying to make life tough for the top order by bowling tight lines. Some committed ground fielding, especially by Dilshan, and catching lifted the spirits of the bowlers.Jayawardene stuck to his tactic of constantly shuffling fielders in various close catching positions to create chances. The openers, Nasir Jamshed and Mohammad Hafeez, started watchfully but succumbed to tame dismissals, not very different in character to their counterparts. Jamshed holed out to mid-on before Hafeez scooped the legspinner Seekkuge Prasanna to point.Younis Khan gifted Suranga Lakmal his second wicket with an exaggerated whip to Farveez Maharoof at mid-on, who timed his dive and caught the ball inches off the ground. At 33 for 3, Sri Lanka were in the game but three boundaries by Akmal off a Lasith Malinga over in the bowling Powerplay – all risk-free – calmed the nerves for Pakistan. Misbah was prepared to wait for the bad deliveries, driving Prasanna past the covers before launching him for a six over long-on.The calmness of Misbah and exuberance of Akmal combined well to ensure that Pakistan crossed the finish line before the 40th over, which gained them a bonus point. Akmal was strong behind square on the on side, sweeping the spinners and paddling them away with the fine leg up. As the target shrunk, Sri Lanka appeared to throw in the towel. The fast bowlers failed to control the scoring, as Pakistan found the gaps with ease during the batting Powerplay.Sri Lanka have a very slim chance of making the final, provided they beat Bangladesh convincingly, and India lose both their remaining games. A back-door entry, however, would not leave them satisfied.Edited by Dustin Silgardo

The passport of former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi has been revoked by the Mumbai Regional Passport Office

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Mar-2011The passport of former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi has been revoked by the Mumbai Regional Passport Office, five months after he was sacked from the league on charges of financial irregularities. He now has 30 days to appeal the RPO’s decision, which could force Modi, who has been residing in the United Kingdom, to return to India.Modi is already the subject of a blue corner alert issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), a department of the finance ministry in Delhi, which was pressing the RPO to revoke his passport. The alert makes it mandatory for law-enforcement agencies around the world to detain, wherever they spot him and inform the ED accordingly. The ED is examining whether Modi violated the Foreign Exchange Management Act during his time as IPL commissioner.Modi questioned the legality of revoking his passport. “It’s unfair; I have not received a showcause notice in nine months,” he told Indian news channel . “I am ready to co-operate with any probe. The only reason I don’t want to come back to India is because I fear for my safety.”Modi could get the decision overturned if he manages to convince local courts in Britain that he does face a genuine threat to his safety.The BCCI suspended Modi immediately following the conclusion of IPL 3 last April and charged him with financial irregularities relating to the bidding process for IPL franchises, the mid-over ad sales and the sale of theatrical rights. He was also charged with colluding to set up a rebel league in England. Modi was officially sacked in September. He is no longer part of the BCCI or the IPL, of which he was the face for the first three seasons.

The IPL has been hit with another potential controversy with Indian news broadcasters deciding not to cover the third season in protest against what it called “arbitrary” guidelines and contentious clauses regarding tournament footage

Cricinfo staff16-Feb-2010The IPL has been hit with another potential controversy with Indian news broadcasters deciding not to cover the third season in protest against what it called “arbitrary” guidelines and contentious clauses regarding tournament footage. The decision followed a meeting between the News Broadcasters’ Association and officials of the IPL and Set Max, the tournament rights holder.The NBA, which has 34 member channels, said the IPL and Set Max officials “arbitrarily” refused to abide by the 2008 norms, which had been agreed on by all.”In view of this position, unilaterally taken by IPL/Set Max, members of the NBA are unable to offer to their viewers any coverage in relation to IPL or its proposed matches,” the association said. “Inconvenience caused to our viewers by this unreasonable commercial approach of IPL/Set MAX is regretted.”The media coverage guidelines for 2010 have reduced the duration of match footage that news channels can carry — 30 seconds per bulletin and seven minutes a day. Repeats will be allowed three times a day, as against four previously, and while match footage could earlier be telecast with a five-minute delay from the end of the live telecast, it has been expanded to a half-hour delay.The first IPL season was boycotted by the international news agencies over certain contentious clauses in the media accreditation guidelines, including a bar on supplying photographs to cricket-specific websites such as Cricinfo.The second season witnessed a repeat after News Media Coalition, the umbrella body that includes global news and photograph agencies Reuters, AP, AFP and Getty Images, objected over the same clause. However, the boycott was lifted after the IPL removed the clause from the terms of coverage.The 2010 tournament has already run into controversies with Shiv Sena threatening not to allow the Australian players in Mumbai as long as attack continues on the Indians living in Australia.

Jack Carson claims three, but late loss of wickets leave hosts with work to do

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay08-Sep-2025Hampshire were bowled out for 226 in just 71.3 overs after being asked to bat first on a challenging Hove pitch on the opening day of their championship match against Sussex. That left Sussex to face 22 overs and by the close they had reached 42 for three as Hampshire fought their way back into the match.Not for the first time the Hampshire innings was held together by their captain Ben Brown, once a very popular player in Sussex colours. But even Brown needed some good fortune on his way to a 129-ball 71, and he was dropped behind by opposite number John Simpson off the bowling of Sean Hunt when he had scored just 18.At the start of the day just 15 points separated the teams between fifth and ninth places. And both Hampshire, in fifth position, and Sussex, just two points behind, started the match in search of reassuring, anti-relegation points.Hampshire, who made four changes, bringing in Ali Orr, Toby Albert, Bjorn Fortuin and Keith Barker, reached a diffident 81 for three at lunch against a rejigged Sussex seam attack which welcomed back Olli Robinson, Jaydev Unadkat and Sean Hunt.Sussex, who had lost their two most recent championship games by an innings, broke through in the sixth over when Fletcha Middleton, driving at a wide delivery from Unadkat, edged behind. It was 47 for two in the 14th over when former Sussex opener Orr clipped Hunt to short leg where Oli Carter took a very sharp catch, low down. And Robinson picked up his first wicket in his livelier second spell when, bowling over the wicket to the left-handed Nick Gubbins, he straightened one to have the batsman lbw.After the break the Hampshire batsmen found the going no easier on a rather sticky surface. The pitch – being used for the first time this season for a championship match – did not encourage strokeplay. Albert pulled left-armer Hunt through midwicket to bring up the hundred in the 35th over but when he attempted a similar stroke against Robinson he gloved the ball to slip.Tom Prest also perished as he attempted to be positive, clipping Fynn Hudson-Prentice to Daniel Hughes at midwicket. Fortuin played himself in but when he jumped down the wicket to drive Jack Carson through the on-side he was through the stroke too soon and chipped it back to the bowler.Hampshire put all their eggs in Brown’s basket, and the batsman gathered his runs with sweeps and nudges, mostly on the leg-side. But when he swept Carson for a single to reach his half-century it had taken him 105 deliveries. From 119 for five Brown led his side to partial recovery, but once he was eighth out at 215, sweeping Carson to square-leg, Hampshire’s resistance was broken.Conditions were no easier when Sussex batted. Tom Haines edged Kyle Abbott waist-high to second slip and Carter was bowled by a nip-backer from Keith Barker. Shortly before the close, James Coles, driving loosely, dragged a delivery from James Fuller onto his stumps.

India’s bowling coach Paras Mhambrey credited England for being brave but doesn’t believe the hosts have fallen behind

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jan-2024The reverse sweep was England’s second most profitable shot (48 off 30 balls, no dismissals) in the second innings that took them from 190 behind to 126 ahead. Ollie Pope and Ben Duckett in particular were using it repeatedly, throwing India’s spinners off the good length area where most of the danger lurked in this Hyderabad pitch.In all, England made 79 runs off 46 balls using various kinds of sweeps – including a reverse Dilscoop that Pope played late in the day after raising an immense century.India’s bowling coach Paras Mhambrey credited England for being brave and said the only thing to do when a team comes out with such unorthodox strokeplay is to hold your line and hope for the edge.Related

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“It does happen. If a batsman starts to access different areas, it’s always going to be a challenge,” Mhambrey said. “Someone like Pope who played, he accessed the square, fine leg area as well and the sweep and the reverse sweep and he played it consistently. Credit must go to him. They really played well, took on the attack at the stage where it was needed and sometimes that happens. Someone who plays some shots like these consistently does get the bowlers under pressure in terms of variation in the lines. Credit goes to him.”But as I said, we still have to be patient with the lines, still hit the right areas and hope to get a wicket. Hope to get an edge or something or the other. That can happen. But I think the credit goes to him the way he played.”Joe Root, who spoke in glowing terms about Pope, said the key to playing the sweep and the reverse sweep is to believe you’re going to nail it every single time. This was when he was asked if they might be a better option than a forward defensive on a turning pitch.Ollie Pope reverse sweeps, something he did a lot•BCCI

“It can be if you can play it well,” Root said. “When it’s hardest is when some spin, some don’t. When it’s consistent spin you can work out when to take it on, and which balls from which line you can take a risk on.”The most important thing is you don’t think you are going to miss at all. Have that mindset of committing to the shot and nailing it for four or one, or whatever. Pope did it exceptionally well. It took until 110 to make a small error when he got dropped. There were a couple of balls that ripped past his outside edge but you expect that; it’s part and parcel, almost like in England when it’s swinging and seaming around, and you almost give yourself a pat on the back because you’ve not chased it. It’s exactly the same here. It was a really special knock.”India aren’t bothered that they’ve fallen behind because they believe that the surface in Hyderabad is a little atypical.”If you look at the way the game has progressed over the last three days, looking at the first session, the amount of balls, the pace of the wicket, the pace of the spin, it got better in the second innings and I think it’s only going to get a little better,” Mhambrey said.”It is on the slower side. There’s still turn but it’s not the usual turn that we see on Indian subcontinental wickets where the game progresses and there’s sharp turn. It’s not that. Still a little turn but not as challenging as maybe the other wickets we’ve played on.”

Pujara’s availability will be determined by his other commitments

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Oct-2022Cheteshwar Pujara will return to Sussex in 2023 after making a significant impact during his first season with the club this year.”I am glad to be back with Sussex for the 2023 season,” Pujara said in a statement released by the club. “I thoroughly enjoyed my last stint with the club last season, both on and off the field and I’m looking forward to contributing to the team’s growth and success in the coming year.”Pujara made Sussex his fourth county after previous spells with Derbyshire, Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire, and made eight hundreds – including three doubles – for them across formats. He was their leading run-scorer in Division Two of the County Championship, with an aggregate of 1094 at 109.4 across 13 innings, and was the second-highest scorer across the 50-over Royal London Cup, making three hundreds as Sussex reached the semi-finals. He also deputised as captain.Sussex did not specify in their statement which formats Pujara would play, or for how long, but his availability will be dictated by his involvement in India’s Test squad and, possibly, the IPL. The club later clarified that they expect him to play Championship and 50-over cricket for them and added that he is due to arrive in time for the start of the season.Pujara remains an important part of India’s Test plans, top-scoring with 66 in their most recent game in the format against England in July. Their Test schedule is relatively sparse in 2023, but they are due to play a two-match series away against West Indies in July-August.He has not played an IPL game since 2014 but was part of Chennai Super Kings’ squad in 2021, and would miss the first two months of the county season if picked up in December’s auction.Keith Greenfield, Sussex’s performance director, said, “It is fantastic news that Cheteshwar will be returning in 2023. We all saw the class he showed with the bat and his performances, but he was also outstanding in our young dressing room as a world-class role model for them to follow.”Sussex are in the process of recruiting a new coach after Ian Salisbury left at the end of the 2022 season. James Kirtley acted as T20 coach throughout Salisbury’s tenure, but the club will return to a single head coach from 2023.

Young Surrey spinners seize control as Gloucestershire follow-on at The Kia Oval

Alan Gardner29-May-2021Surrey strutted their way towards what was set to be a crushing win over Group Two leaders Gloucestershire, as 14 wickets fell on day three at the Kia Oval. Dan Moriarty, the left-arm spinner playing in only his third first-class match, was the architect of the visitors’ demise as his career-best 6 for 60 enabled Surrey to enforce the follow on. A parched Saturday-evening crowd then wallowed in the occasion as Gloucestershire tottered to five down in their second dig.Rarely do Surrey have licence to play the underdog card, but having lost to these opponents in the opening round of fixtures there was an added bite to their play here. In the stands, some pinkly glistening patrons attempted to start a “thunder clap”, made famous by Iceland’s football fans during exuberant campaigns at Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup. Gloucestershire, still 191 runs adrift at the close and having collected just two bowling bonus points from their trip to Kennington, face going home with little more than a pat on the back.Surrey went into this game missing the services of three of their England internationals (Rory Burns and Ollie Pope with the Test squad, Ben Foakes the victim of a freak dressing-room injury), and having seen overseas quick Kemar Roach depart for West Indies duty; but such are the resources available in south London that they have been in charge from the moment stand-in captain Hashim Amla won the toss on Thursday morning.Moriarty’s first appearance of the season brought him a fourth consecutive five-wicket haul in Championship cricket, as he and Amar Virdi took up the gauntlet of spinning their team towards victory. Roach’s replacement, Australia international Sean Abbott, then claimed his first Surrey scalps to rattle Gloucestershire in their second innings.Arguably the most significant absence has been that of James Bracey, Gloucestershire’s leading run-scorer and a man with the methodical minerals to have set the tone for a rearguard effort. Miles Hammond did a passable impression at No. 3, facing 257 balls for 111 runs and once out in the day, but a collapse of 4 for 5 during a chaotic half-hour in the first session effectively scuppered their likeliest escape route here.Amar Virdi was in the wickets as Surrey dominated Gloucestershire•Getty Images

Rarely does the county game provide the stage for two young, English spinners to dictate proceedings in tandem, but with the sun shining down on a dry and dusty Oval, conditions were ripe for Virdi and Moriarty to wheel away. Le tweak, c’est chic, as the French don’t quite say. Certainly they are a complementary pair, having taken 18 wickets together in the victory over Sussex during last season’s Bob Willis Trophy. Virdi, the diminutive offspinner, bounds in and gives the ball a twirl, while the taller, more angular Moriarty sinisterly stalks his quarry.Asked to bat again in the face of a 315-run deficit, Kraigg Brathwaite and Chris Dent walked out to find Moriarty and Virdi waiting for them again. Gloucestershire’s openers survived their unusual new-ball test, only for Brathwaite to chip a return catch to Jamie Overton, before Abbott struck twice in as many overs, pinning Dent in front and then castling Tom Lace to send the former Middlesex man on his way having bagged a pair.Ryan Higgins avoided the same fate, but was stumped off Virdi deep into an extended evening session – Jamie Smith completing the dismissal after a smart take by his left shoulder – after Ian Cockbain had fallen to a ripping offbreak.For the first hour of the day, Gloucestershire seemed capably attuned to the requirements of navigating a way past the follow-on target of 324. While spin was always likely to play the major role, this used pitch was still some way removed from a raging Bunsen. Indeed, after Brathwaite and Hammond had seen off the opening overs of seam – the latter taking advantage of Overton’s pace to pull and drive three boundaries in as many overs – the introduction of Virdi and Moriarty initially did little to change the tenor of the morning.In the end it was a lack of turn, deliberate or otherwise from Virdi, that succeeded in foxing Brathwaite, as the West Indies opener played around an offbreak that went straight on to rap the back pad. Virdi was off and running, haring across the square in celebration, and so were Surrey, as the visitors tumbled from 84 for 1 to 89 for 5 inside five calamitous overs.Related

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Lace was Moriarty’s first victim, sucked into pushing at a flighted delivery from round the wicket that straightened just enough to clip the outside edge. Cockbain attempted to counterattack but only succeeded in cuffing his sweep off Virdi straight to square leg, and Higgins was guilty of an even more glaring misjudgement when he offered his second ball unimpeded passage into off stump. With Jonny Tattersall turning a full delivery straight into the hands of leg slip and Tom Smith snapped up one-handed by Jacks at forward short leg off the face of the bat, Moriarty had four and Gloucestershire were limping to lunch on 113 for 7.Despite the carnage at the other end, Hammond had doggedly held the line throughout, earning praise from a small-but-vocal pocket of Gloucestershire support in the JM Finn Stand. He moved to a sixth first-class fifty – and first for Gloucestershire since 2019 – with a single from his 124th ball, though might have been stumped in the following over when Moriarty turned one inside the bat only for it to elude Smith as well.Surrey’s charge was briefly held up by the eighth-wicket pair, as Matt Taylor dug in for more than an hour. He had just driven Abbott through extra cover for four when he left a delivery from Jacks that spun big to hit off stump and give the Surrey allrounder his maiden first-class wicket. Moriarty claimed the last two, including that of Hammond, who dragged a short delivery to midwicket; the spinner’s name may hint at Machiavellian intent but Gloucestershire were too often complicit in being duped.

Former assistant coach says a player of Buttler’s talent should average ’40-plus’ by this point in his Test career

George Dobell29-Feb-2020Paul Farbrace has admitted he is “worried” about Jos Buttler’s form, but feels England should stick with him as their keeper for the Test series in Sri Lanka.While Farbrace, England’s former assistant coach, regards Buttler as a “brilliant professional” and a “selfless cricketer” he accepts he “needs to score runs” in Sri Lanka or “step aside” from the Test side.ALSO READ: ‘I’m too old now to get picked on potential’ – ButtlerButtler has made just one Test century in his 41 Tests (73 innings) and, since the start of the Ashes, has made one half-century in 10 Tests and averaged 21.31. He hasn’t reached 30 in his most recent eight Test innings.”I am worried about Jos,” Farbrace said. “I think Jos should be England’s keeper and batter but he knows he can’t keep going long periods of time without making contributions.”What should a player of his ability be averaging after 40 games? It should be 40-plus. It is a lot lower than he would want it to be.”I would definitely keep him for the Sri Lanka series but he needs to score runs. If not, then he has to step aside.”Buttler does look set to start the Sri Lanka tour as England’s first-choice keeper. But the recall of Ben Foakes, player of the series when England won in Sri Lanka in late 2018, is sure to increase the pressure on Buttler’s position.And Farbrace feels Foakes has proved his ability and shouldn’t be judged too harshly on a disappointing 2019 Championship season (in which he averaged 26.14) as it may well have been provoked by his being dropped by England. Farbrace retains belief in Jonny Bairstow’s ability, too, though he accepts he “did not score enough runs.”ALSO READ: Foakes refreshed after winter off and ready for second chance“Foakes is England’s best keeper bar none,” Farbrace said. “He is a quality act with the bat. He showed he is up to it in Sri Lanka.”Being dropped in the West Indies had a massive effect on him during the English summer. It kicked the legs from underneath him.”Jonny Bairstow’s keeping improved enormously, too, but he got bowled too often and did not score enough runs. To get the best out of Jonny, he bats at No. 7 and keeps wicket. A lot of us think he can nail down No. 5, but maybe No. 7 suits him.”While Farbrace, now director of sport at Warwickshire, does not have the influence around the England camp he once did, his views remain intriguing. In his role with England, he was a steadfast supporter of Buttler. If even he is losing confidence, it suggests Buttler is running out of chances.Still, Farbrace remains a fan of Buttler and feels he has the talent and technique to make it in Test cricket. Addressing a roomful of young cricketers on the PCA’s recent rookie camp, Farbrace told them how the previous team management had urged Buttler to simply relax and enjoy the game. Then, Farbrace believes, he requires only greater game awareness to enjoy more consistent success.Jos Buttler has endured a tough run in Test cricket•Getty Images

“I was watching the IPL on television a couple of years ago,” Farbrace said. “Jos’ shoulder were hunched. So I phoned him and asked ‘are you enjoying it?’ He said ‘not really.'”So I said, ‘what would your mum – who coached him when he was a boy – have said?’ And he said ‘try to enjoy it.’ I said, ‘well, there you are then.’ He went on to make 50s in his next five games.”We always told him not to worry about the level of expectation. Just go in and play the game and remember why you play: because you enjoy it.”Jos is a very selfless cricketer. Everything about him as a character and person, you can see why everybody wants him in the team. He has that great knack of saying the right thing at the right time, he is a brilliant professional, he has got a lot of experience and is a team-orientated person like Ben Stokes, Joe Root and Moeen Ali. You want those people in your team.”There are times when he has gone in and played in a way that worked for the team. He got one of England’s best hundreds in recent times against India where he had more dot balls in a hundred than anyone else for ten years [his leave percentage of 24 was actually the highest of England’s most recent 30 Test centuries]. It was a rearguard action at Trent Bridge.”I think it is being able to understand where the game is at and what he needs to do. That is what the best players can do. They work out the situation and play accordingly. That is what Root, Cook and Stokes can do.”I don’t think it is a technique issue. He knows he has the defence. It is a case of trusting that defence and being clear on the situation of the game and playing accordingly. He has to work out what the game needs from him at the given moment. It is what Stokes has done brilliantly.”Over the last 18 months he has worked out how he needs to play for the current situation. The more he does it, the more confidence he has. All Jos is lacking is consistency of being able to bat according to the situation.”England fly to Sri Lanka on Monday and begin their tour with a three-day match against a Board President’s XI starting on Saturday.

The 35-year-old allrounder will continue playing white-ball cricket, he said on Twitter

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Jan-2019South African allrounder Ryan McLaren, 35, announced Thursday that he is retiring from first-class cricket. McLaren posted a screengrab on Twitter where he said it was the “right time” and that it was “time for some white ball fun.””I have learned from many to know when it’s the right time. The time has come for me to retire from first-class cricket. I’m grateful to share a changeroom with some of the best our country has produced. Words cannot describe how grateful I am for the support I have had from my wife, family, coaches and teammates both in SA and in county cricket. I have absolutely loved every part of what this game has taught me…time for some white ball fun now,” McLaren’s screengrab read.
The fast-bowling allrounder enjoyed reasonable success in limited-overs cricket for South Africa between 2009 and 2014, before being left out of their 2015 World Cup squad. He played only two Tests, which came four years apart. During his second Test against Australia in 2014, he picked up a mild concussion after being hit by a bouncer, and missed the rest of what would be his last Test series.He is, however, a well-travelled first-class cricketer. He debuted with Easterns in 2003-04 under Allan Donald, played for the Knights from 2005 to 2014, and briefly moved to Dolphins, before returning to finish with Knights, who he represented at the start of the year against Cape Cobras. McClaren also has stints in County cricket, including one as a Kolpak player for Kent between 2007 and 2009. Most recently, he played for Hampshire and Lancashire.In all, McLaren played 154 first-class matches to score 6298 runs at 33.86 and took 459 wickets at 27.61.