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ScorecardThe sun refuses to set on day/night cricket in England, however much a grumbling Chelmsford crowd may wish it to, in no small part owing to it being played in midsummer.On a scorching hot, blue-sky, ice-cream and sunblock day, the sort of day which is supposed to attract hordes of late arrivals bunking off work early to enjoy a reviving ice-cold beer or simply ambling by and thinking “what the hell”, there were fewer people present to watch Alastair Cook and Essex’s return to batting form than you’d expect at a good old-fashioned run of the mill red ball game in mid-April.There are reasons; it was a Monday, many of the home fans live a good drive away from the ground, and the lure of the World Cup is stronger than the novelty of a pink ball. It might help if the pink ball in question, a Kookaburra for Division One matches, didn’t show less inclination to swing than Odysseus’ virtuous wife Penelope. Indeed, the seam on these balls unthreads more rapidly than her tapestries.It might help, but really not a lot. Alan, an Essex member of decades’ standing, ran through the myriad objections: “Most of the members are getting on. They don’t want to queue in the car park at 9.30, waiting to drive home 20 miles. Then you don’t feel like eating because it’s too late, and you can’t live on a diet of burgers and chips which is all I can get here.”What about the walk-in crowd? Well, Chelmsford isn’t The Oval. You’re not likely to stop your journey back home from work (which as often as not will be in London), traipse 10 minutes to the ground to arrive at around 6.30pm only to contemplate the remaining half hour (at least) of your journey starting at 9.15pm. On a Monday. With a World Cup going on.And then there’s the spectacle. Day/night cricket can be a wondrous spectacle in Australia, India, pretty much everywhere else in the cricketing firmament . A jet black sky, the lights on full beam, the ball misbehaving in that exotic final session. If, though, you insist on playing it in midsummer in England, it’s hard to know why they don’t just stick to the red ball. The spectacle never appears. The crepuscular hour falls and casts its magically spectral light on a crowd that has by now decamped to the train station or pub. But if you play it much later in the season, it gets bloody cold by 9pm.Alastair Cook was Essex’s mainstay•Getty Images

Is it just possible that England is not Australia. It is not India. Is it possible that England needs to tailor cricket to England and English conditions, rather than creating a bastard hybrid of what works abroad. In countries closer to the equator. Countries that get dark earlier and are warm? Because if day/night cricket wasn’t going to work today of all days, it’s hard to know exactly when it will. Under a heated, roofed, megadome in central London?All of which is a shame since what many locals missed was a fighting day of good quality cricket from two teams on whom the sun actually is threatening to set on their title ambitions after heavy defeats last week. Essex finally rediscovered some form with the bat thanks to an opening partnership of 151 between the returning Nick Browne (out since early May with a broken finger) and Alastair Cook. It was Essex’s largest partnership of the season by 41 runs, and was only ended when Tim Groenewald deflected Cook’s firmly struck straight drive onto the stumps at the non-striker’s end, stranding Browne (66) a couple of feet out of his ground.Somerset, spearheaded by Dom Bess, who bowled unchanged for 35 overs, dragged back the scoring rate on a dry first day pitch that will surely assist Harmer later in the game. Somerset chipped away with wickets at regular intervals in the middle session, including that of Cook whom Bess trapped lbw four runs short of his 63rd first-class hundred, and we got a first sight of Michael Pepper , debuting on his 20th birthday. A six foot three inch wicket keeper batsmen who is much admired by local legend Robin Hobbs, he survived a spicy spell from Jamie Overton who repeatedly tested him with the short ball either side of tea, but he couldn’t survive Bess’s arm ball, playing down the wrong line as it cannoned into his off stump.At 212 for 4 Essex were in danger of succumbing to familiar frailties but were seen home by an unbroken partnership of 86 between their old stagers Ravi Bopara (37) and Ryan ten Doeschate (46) to finish on 298 for 4, just four runs short of their highest first innings score this season, with power to add.Sadly, a crowd of 1202, roughly half the average attendance at Chelmsford this season, was there to see it.

Cricket South Africa and the South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) have signed a new four-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), four months after the expiration of their previous agreement. The last MoU came to its conclusion on April 30 but an interim arrangement has been in place since then while the final document was negotiated. Both parties are satisfied with the new agreement.The MOU consists of three parts, a main agreement which details player contracts and benefits, a commercial agreement which covers items such as image rights and a recognition agreement, a new feature which outlines the relationship between CSA and SACA. The two parties have historically had no formal processes that laid out things such as when they need to start discussing a new MoU or what to do if there is a dispute between them. Now, the relationship is defined on paper, which CEO Thabang Moroe was has been insistent on since December last year, when he also hinted that the revenue-share model could be re-examined.CSA backtracked from those statements early on in the negotiations and have since maintained that they never planned to do away with revenue-share, though ESPNcricinfo reliably understands otherwise. However, the new MoU not only retains the revenue-share model but has expanded it substantially.Women cricketers have been included for the first time, as have provincial cricketers (previously known as semi-professional cricketers). Collectively, 317 professional cricketers are now included in the MoU, which also zones in on player retention in the face of the growing threat from T20 leagues.”There is a lot of focus on the need to make sure you retain your players in international cricket. Every country faces this challenge,” Tony Irish, the SACA CEO, said. “We’ve done a pretty good job in this MoU of putting in place the best mechanisms and arrangements to give ourselves the best chance of retaining our best players.”Among those measures are financial incentives which are aimed at keeping cricketers in South Africa. The formation of a T20 league in South Africa will also be crucial to keeping players in the country, but that is still in the process of being finalised. “It (the new MOU) has left the door open for ourselves to sit and find a way to address the T20 competition and any other competitions should the franchise system change. We anticipate a change or growth as far as professional cricket is concerned,” Moroe said.Asked if the players were anxious throughout the delay, Irish acknowledged that there were concerns, which eased as the process unfolded. He also indicated negotiations should run smoother in future.”We got to the end of the contract year and there wasn’t an agreement in place. That does make players very nervous because the majority of players were coming out of contract and there were no longer-term arrangements,” Irish said. “When we implemented an interim agreement to ensure that players continued with their contracts and that CSA could contract national players and franchises could contract players, that settled players down.”Whenever there is a big negotiation, there is always a bit of tetchiness. This involves a lot of money, a significant amount of players and it runs over four years. I think we have a solid recognition agreement and a process in place as to how the next negotiation will run. When you formalise those sorts of things, things settle down.”

ScorecardA thrilling third day finish could be in prospect at Lord’s where Division Two rivals Kent and Middlesex continue to cross swords in an action-packed Specsavers County Championship match.After the loss of 19 wickets on day one, this low scoring clash continued with a further 15 falling on an enthralling second day that ended through bad light at 6.20pm with Kent on 104 for four – requiring another 52 runs with six, second innings wickets intact to secure their fourth successive championship win and strengthen their hold on a top-two place.With a potential 39 overs remaining in the day, Kent looked to make an ultra-positive start to their run chase but paid the price with the loss of four cheap wickets.Zak Crawley was superbly caught by Dawid Malan off Ethan Bamber, then an over later, Matt Henry – promoted to pinch hit at No3 – skewed his second ball to mid-off to gift his wicket to Steven Finn.Sean Dickson and Joe Denly added 33 for the third wicket until Denly went leg before to James Fuller, then Dickson’s stay for 32 ended when he prodded at the first ball of a new spell from Bamber to be caught low at second slip.The umpires took the players off nine balls later for a 20-minute break for bad light, after which Daniel Bell-Drummond and Heino Kuhn emerged to add 50 runs in positive fashion before the gloom descended again.Kent took a stranglehold on proceedings during the mid-session when New Zealand strike bowler Henry bagged four for 40 to inspire a Middlesex collapse that saw the hosts lose eight wickets for 88 runs.In taking five victims in this game Henry, the championship’s leading wicket-taker, took his season’s tally to 66 at less than 15 apiece as Middlesex succumbed in 60.2 overs.It was Kent’s 42-year-old all-rounder Darren Stevens who started the home demise by breaking a useful opening stand worth 59 between Sam Morgan and Nick Gubbins.Robson and Gubbins rode their luck under the floodlights as Henry and Harry Podmore beat the outside edge on numerous occasions. Yet, within 10 overs, Middlesex had wiped out the first innings deficit of 31 as the pair went on to record only their third 50-run first-wicket stand of the championship summer.Stevens, fresh from signing a one-year contract extension to keep him at Kent for a 14th season, then struck at the double. Robson edged an away-singer to second slip then, four runs later, left-hander Max Holden fell leg before to an in-swinger that pitched on leg and middle to beat Holden’s airy, leg-side flick.Middlesex lost three wickets for one run in the space of 13 balls after lunch after resuming on their interval score of 98 for two. Gubbins, off balance and working across the line, departed lbw to Podmore, then Henry swung the very next delivery back in to end Dawid Malan’s innings of 32.Podmore’s slower ball off-cutter, which turned into a dipping, low full-toss, was scooped straight to mid-wicket by Eoin Morgan and the procession continued when Martin Andersson, in crab-like defence, played inside the line to Podmore’s in-ducker to be given lbw.Stevie Eskinazi went in the same fashion to a shooting off-cutter from Stevens and Henry returned to polish things off with a 20-ball stint of three for seven. The slippery Kiwi got one to lift and leave Oli Rayner for a regulation catch at second slip then, in his next over, swung a full one away from Bamber for Sam Billings to snaffle a diving catch in front of slip.Henry trapped Finn lbw for his 66th wicket of the championship campaign to leave Kent with a potential seven sessions of the match to secure their ninth win of the campaign.The second day started with Kent completing their first innings. It lasted only another 11 deliveries as they added only three to their overnight score to miss out on a batting bonus point by eight runs.Grant Stewart, the Australian-born all-rounder, was Kent’s last man to go for a battling 63, bowled by Fuller when playing across the line of a very full delivery. Fuller, the pick of the home attack, finished with four for 49 as Kent secured a modest 31-run lead.

India Blue will meet India Red in the final of the Duleep Trophy 2018-19, having taken the first-innings lead in a drawn encounter against India Green at the NPR College Ground in Dindigul.Both teams had one point coming into the match and Blue got three points to Green’s solitary point after making 340 in the first innings and restricting Green to 257.In the second innings, Blue were bowled out for just 117, but with just over a session left for Green to achieve a target of 201, a draw was the most likely result. Eventually, only 5.4 overs were bowled in the final session on Saturday. Green were 20 for 2, with Blue having given the new ball to a couple of left-arm spinners in Uttar Pradesh’s Saurabh Kumar and Baroda’s Swapnil Singh.Saurabh took both wickets, of openers Prashant Chopra and Priyank Panchal, to make it seven for the match after his first-innings 5 for 98.Blue’s batting was held together mostly by Dhruv Shorey, who followed his 93 in the first innings with 40 in the second, top-scoring both times and being awarded the Man of the Match.Blue’s batting and bowling in the first innings set up the match. Along with Shorey, Faiz Fazal (76), wicketkeeper Smit Patel (51) gave the team a sound foundation, while Ricky Bhui hit 56 to ensure that Fazal’s decision to bat first was vindicated by the top order. Blue collapsed from 303 for 4 to lose six wickets for 37 runs in 11.3 overs, with medium-pacer K Vignesh taking 5 for 50.In Green’s reply, opener Chopra and captain Parthiv Patel both hit 80, but there were few other significant contributions, with Jaydev Unadkat (4 for 16) combining with Saurabh to bowl them out.In what has been a pattern in the tournament, spinners dominated in the second innings, with Aditya Sarwate taking 5 for 32 as Blue were bowled out in just 34 overs for a meagre total. However, with time running out in the game, and a rain interruption too on the last day, it was mostly of academic interest only.While the league matches were four-day affairs, the final will be a five-day game and take place at the same venue from September 4.

ScorecardLancashire’s fate seemed so certain on the first morning of this game it would have been almost fitting had the players arrived in a tumbril and then heard the needles of clicking outside their dressing-room door. Relegation was certain if Yorkshire took two points from their game at Worcester and Nottinghamshire collected five from their home match against Somerset. And even those paltry requirements would be reduced if Liam Livingstone’s team failed to take maximum points from a victory at the Ageas Bowl.But by close of play the guillotine had not fallen. Yorkshire had secured their safety but Nottinghamshire still needed three more points to settle matters. And the irony of all this was that Lancashire had enjoyed rather a good day. Having bowled out Hampshire for 187, their batsmen had reduced the deficit to 64 runs at stumps. Both Keaton Jennings and Liam Livingstone played with far more assurance than any of their opponents had shown, albeit on a pitch which had eased once its morning moisture had departed.Lancashire dominated the day and in a less fraught week their supporters would be happy. But the dismissal of Jennings, bowled by Ian Holland for 48, and then that of nightwatchman Stephen Parry for a three-ball nought merely reinforced the enormity of the task facing Lancashire if they are to avoid their third relegation in seven seasons.So rather than Robespierre’s Terror, the whole business had the air of an election night. In addition to concerning themselves with matters in their own contest, Lancashire’s cricketers knew their survival depended on results from other constituencies. Even on September days as blue and blissful as this one, context is all.Lancashire’s batsmen began their innings knowing they would need to score over 250 to leave them with a straw to clutch on the second day. Their chances of doing so were reduced when Alex Davies had his off stump knocked back by a fine ball from Fidel Edwards in the third over of their reply; they were further diminished when Brooke Guest, who was making his first-class debut, was castled for 8 by Kyle Abbott seven overs later, the ball snaking between bat and pad. Edwards celebrated the 400th wicket of his first-class career, Abbott the 50th of his Championship season. Lancashire supporters exchanged glances of wry recognition. Two batsmen gone early, again. Then news arrived of Nottinghamshire taking a sixth wicket at Trent Bridge. Lancashire’s minimum requirement went up to 300.Yet as so often this season, Lancashire’s faster bowlers had fulfilled their part of a team’s unspoken compact. Dismissing Hampshire for under 200 in less than two sessions was a plucky effort, even on a pitch offering initial help to seamers. In the absence of Graham Onions, who has “a niggle”, Tom Bailey led the attack and took his 60th Championship wicket of the season when last man Edwards smeared a full toss to Livingstone at mid-off.But all four of Livingstone’s quicker bowlers had done all that could reasonably have been expected of them in the morning session. Each of them enjoyed success, with the prize wicket of James Vince being claimed by Josh Bohannon, who nipped one back a shade to have the Hampshire skipper lbw on the back foot for 22. Earlier Joe Weatherley’s indecorous cut had only given a catch to Davies and Jimmy Adams’ penultimate first-class innings ended after ten balls and for no runs when he edged Bailey to Dane Vilas at third slip. And Lancastrian satisfaction was complete just before lunch when Oli Soames forsook his previous rectitude and poked crookedly at a ball from Saqib Mahmood which cannoned off the bottom edge into the middle stump.The bowlers enjoyed further successes on the resumption. Bailey finished with 4 for 57 and should be in line for a Lions call this winter. Mahmood, who was playing his first game at the end of a season wrecked by injury, added the scalp of Liam Dawson to that of Soames. Hampshire were indebted to Sam Northeast, who took nearly two hours over his 42 runs and helped the last three wickets add 70 to the total.However, bowling Hampshire out after choosing to bowl first on a pitch offering help was the easy bit for Lancashire. Scoring the runs needed to put Nottinghamshire under any sort of pressure was always going to be more difficult. Our cricket ended with Livingstone and Vilas preserving their wickets as the sun declined beyond Telegraph Hill. A near impossible task awaits the two Lancashire batsmen on the second day. Even their best may not be good enough. “It’s not dark yet,” sang Bob Dylan, “but it’s getting there.”

Alex Doolan plays one on the off side•Getty Images

A 170-run opening stand between Tasmania pair Alex Doolan and Jordan Silk has given the Tigers a fighting chance after all but erasing an enormous first-innings deficit against Victoria at Bellerive Oval.The Tigers began their second innings 201 runs behind the visitors. Doolan and Silk, however, enjoyed some good batting conditions to put together Tasmania’s biggest opening stand of the season and close within 31 runs of the lead.Doolan made 94 from 119 balls with 11 fours and a six. He seemed destined for his second century of the season but was caught behind edging a very short-and-wide ball from Peter Siddle.Nonetheless, Doolan has scored more runs than anyone else in the Sheffield Shield this season thus far. It was his fifth score of 50-plus for the season, and the second time in consecutive matches he has fallen in the 90s after making 115 in the opening match of the season.Silk remained unbeaten on 77 at stumps after the Tigers also lost Beau Webster late in the day.Earlier, Victoria’s tail helped the visitors build the 201-run lead. Peter Siddle, Scott Boland and Jon Holland added 83 for the last two wickets. Siddle was the last man out for 42 after he and Holland put on 50 for the 10th wicket. Tigers quick Riley Meredith finished with 4 for 61, his best figures in his four-game Shield career to date.

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Jake Weatherald found his mojo with a sublime 71 as Adelaide Strikers rolled out their trademark blueprint to strangle the Melbourne Renegades in Geelong.Weatherald appeared to bat on a different surface, with his 71 off 44 balls the stand-out performance of the match. He was the only player on either side to pass 33 and looked set for a huge score until he was run out in unusual circumstances, attempting to pinch a third run.He was doing so to try and regain some momentum after Renegades legspinner Cameron Boyce stemmed the flow, taking 2 for 16 in a sublime four-over spell. Some special late hitting from Rashid Khan gave the Strikers a decent score to bowl at, but it proved surplus to requirements.The Renegades never came close in the chase. They scored just 12 runs off the first four overs and never recovered. Michael Neser and Billy Stanlake did the early damage, before the Renegades floundered against the legspinning trio of Rashid Khan, Liam O’Connor and Colin Ingram.Stormy WeatheraldMuch has been expected of Jake Weatherald this season, after his match-winning century in last season’s BBL final. He had made four starts this tournament, but failed to kick on. He started with two boundaries in the first over from the part-time spin of Tom Cooper. But he really got going against the dangerous Usman Shinwari. After flushing one into Shinwari’s shin that left an egg-shaped bruise in the second over, he stuck three consecutive boundaries in the fourth over, including a magnificent lofted straight drive. He then targeted the short 60-meter boundary after the Powerplay, smashing three sixes into the stands at midwicket. He reached 50 off just 26 balls and laid the perfect platform as the Strikers reached 1 for 75 after nine overs.Boyce breaks through and bouncing batsBrought in for the eighth over, Boyce slowed the rate immediately. Alex Carey holed out from the first ball of his spell. Boyce bowled three dots to Ingram in his next nine balls. The pressure forced Ingram to heave across the line and he sliced a leading edge to cover. Boyce had 2 for 5 after two overs and finished with 2 for 16 from his four. The scoring rate plummeted and it caused two unusual run outs. Matthew Short and Weatherald were both run out in similar fashion. Both men dived for their ground at full stretch, both had their bats over the line, but the end of their bats were adjudged to be in the air by the TV umpire, with no part of it deemed grounded past the popping crease when the stumps were broken. The vision didn’t appear clear cut in either case, but the TV umpire Sam Nogajski was quick to give both out. The Strikers slumped to 6 for 127 with two overs to go, but Rashid Khan did what Rashid Khan does and thumped 21 from seven balls, which included two dots, to raise the total above 150.Powerless PowerplayThe Renegades had raced out of the blocks in their previous match against the Melbourne Stars before falling in a huge hole. They made a change at the top of the order, splitting the inexperienced but inventive pair of Mackenzie Harvey and Sam Harper with the wise-head of Cameron White. But White’s sluggish start put the Renegades well behind the rate. He made 8 off his first 14 balls as the Renegades slumped to 2 for 12 after four overs. Neser hit his lengths superbly, and Harvey and Harper both fell trying to find the rope. Harper was caught attempting a ramp. Carey bravely took the catch running back and collided with Billy Stanlake, but both men avoided injury. White and Cooper took 20 from the last two overs of the Powerplay, but the required run-rate remained above nine-an-over.Legless against legspinLegspinners have dominated the BBL so far, and the Strikers picked two specialists in Rashid Khan and Liam O’Conner, along with the skipper’s part-time leg breaks. Ingram used O’Connor in the first over and then brought him back immediately post the Powerplay. But it wasn’t a magic delivery that made the breakthrough. Instead, Cooper bunted a long hop to cover. It started a sequence of eight straight overs of legspin that put the Renegades into the mire. They got out to good balls and bad ones. White was trapped plumb lbw, sweeping to Rashid Khan. Mohammad Nabi and Dan Christian were bowled by O’Conner and Ingram respectively to leave them 6 for 51. Ingram pushed his luck with a third over and finally paid a price for two waist-high full tosses, but the damage was done. The required run-rate reached 13 by the time pace returned and the game meandered to a tame finish.

Australia’s ODI captain Aaron Finch has spent the last few days reminding himself that he is “still a very good player” ahead of the series-decider against India at the MCG on Friday.Finch has struggled at international level over the past six months. Since scoring a stunning record 172 against Zimbabwe in a T20I in Harare in July, he has averaged just 18.48 in 26 innings across formats, with just two half-centuries, both in Tests. In the ongoing series, he has been bowled twice for 6, having faced 11 and 19 deliveries respectively in Sydney and Adelaide.”I’ve had a chance to go back and have a look at some footage and see what’s worked really well when I’ve got hundreds for Australia and felt like I’ve been playing really well,” Finch said. “It’s just about making sure that I give myself the best chance.”Maybe I’ve been too tentative in the last couple of games, letting a bit of pressure build up. It’s always a fine balance between attack and hanging in there and waiting for the right time to sort of be aggressive and take on the game. I still feel I’m a very good player. I think 13 international hundreds suggest that I do know what is required.”It’s just a case of getting through that initial part and probably looking to put a bit of pressure back on the bowler. I think at the moment I’ve just been a little bit tentative in my thought process and in my footwork at times. I think it’s just about going back to my natural game and just letting that flow and finding the right rhythm.”The schedule has been unrelenting. Since Finch was selected for the Test tour in the UAE, he has played 42 days of cricket out of 111, travelling to 15 cities across two different hemispheres, with seven format changes. He has also been captain for 14 of the 21 matches. Virat Kohli, who plays as much cricket as any international player, has played 16 matches and had five format changes in the same period. Finch is clearly in a need of a break and some respite is coming given he is not going to play in the IPL this season.”April is going to be some time off, which is a month off after the Dubai series (ODIs against Pakistan), before we head up to Brisbane for a camp before the World Cup,” Finch said. “So that’ll be the first real long break that I’ve had in a long time. That will be an opportunity to go on a quick holiday with my wife which hasn’t happened in the five-and-a-half years we’ve been together. It’ll be nice.”But in the meantime, he still needs to find some form in the final ODI on Friday, as back-to-back ODI tours to India and the UAE loom large as important preparation for Australia’s World Cup hopes. He will also have some BBL cricket ahead of the India tour.”India at home and then away followed by Pakistan in the UAE,” Finch said. “It doesn’t get much tougher than that in terms of conditions and opposition. After this series it’s just a bit of Big Bash. The Renegades schedule has a few breaks in it as well which will be really crucial. Just a time, like I said leading into this series, to recharge and just get back to getting out there and trying to slog a few around.”Aside from his own form, Finch was extremely positive about the way Australia played in the first two matches despite losing in Adelaide. Australia has made two changes for the series decider at the MCG. Jason Behrendorff has been rested to manage his ongoing back issues, with Billy Stanlake coming in, while Nathan Lyon has been replaced by legspinner Adam Zampa.

Olly Stone faces a lengthy period of rehabilitation in the wake of his early departure from England’s tour of the Caribbean, after a stress fracture in his left lower back was confirmed following further examination in the UK.Stone, the fastest bowler in England’s original squad for the West Indies series, reported the problem shortly after arriving in Barbados earlier this month, having flown from Australia a few days previously. His place has been taken by Mark Wood, who linked up with the squad last weekend.His county, Warwickshire, confirmed he had suffered “a partial stress fracture to his left lower back”, which typically takes six to 12 weeks to heal.Jim Troughton, First Team Coach at Warwickshire CCC, said: “We’re bitterly disappointed for Olly who has already had his fair share of injury heartache.”Getting himself into the England set-up was a great achievement so the timing of this setback is a tough one for him.”The science and medical staff at Warwickshire will work closely with Olly, in partnership with the England medical team, and hopefully we can have him back to bowling as soon as possible.”Stone’s chances of breaking into the Test side on this tour were limited. But the England management were impressed by his pace and his attitude in Sri Lanka last year, where he claimed a wicket with his seventh ball in international cricket: a bouncer that took the gloves of Niroshan Dickwella as he fended the ball away from his face. He is seen as the sort of bowler who could learn from being in the environment and one day make a difference on an Ashes tour.

With under four months to go for the World Cup in England, Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur has said the selectors and team management will look at the upcoming PSL and the ODI series against Australia before finalising a squad of 15 for the global tournament. Pakistan play 10 ODIs before the World Cup – five against Australia in the UAE after the PSL and five in England in May – and Arthur said he and chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq had 19 players in mind and would want to have two game plans in place for the conditions in England during the summer.”Inzi and I have been on the same page for a long while here. And I’m going to be honest because I’ve told the boys in the dressing room the same thing the other night,” Arthur said in Lahore after returning from South Africa. “I think we’ve got probably 19 players for 15 positions. PSL always throws up one or two good individual performers, so we are going to have a look at some of our borderline players, the guys that we are not sure about. We have to look at them during the Australian series and then we will make our minds up leading into England, obviously we will be taking 15 there. The key is players get clarity in terms of their roles and role clarity is particularly important.”Pakistan have given opportunities to youngsters with the advent of the PSL in the last couple of years. With the T20 league starting in under a week, players will want to impress the selectors particularly for slots in the middle order and the fast-bowling attack. The current probables for the pace attack comprise Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Hasan Ali, Usman Shinwari and bowling allrounder Faheem Ashraf. Among the spinners, Shadab Khan and Imad Wasim are the likely candidates to make the trip to England.”The other thing that’s important for us is having an option with two game plans,” Arthur said. “I’m saying two game plans because the weather in England at any given time is very unpredictable, so we need an option where we have our spinners, who are able to suffocate through the middle [overs] because the key for us to win one-day games is about taking wickets through that middle period.”Either we do that with two spinners or little bit of reverse-swing if the weather stays dry, or if the weather is wet over that period of time there we have to have an option of a seam-bowling allrounder who can come in and bat at No. 7 for us. So we’re very close, we’ve covered all our bases in terms of our personnel at the moment.”Pakistan fought hard against South Africa in the ODIs, losing the series 3-2, but their form since they won the Champions Trophy in June 2017 hasn’t been impressive. They have won 15 of their 27 completed matches since then, completing series wins only against Sri Lanka, ranked eighth, and Zimbabwe. In this time they were also blanked 5-0 in New Zealand a year ago, won matches only against Hong Kong and Afghanistan in the Asia Cup in September, and drew the three-match series 1-1 against New Zealand in the UAE in November.AFP

Looking back at the South Africa tour, where Pakistan lost the Test series 3-0, ODIs 3-2 and T20Is 2-1, Arthur said he was proud of the way the team showed their “passion” and “intensity”.”I just think it is really important that I reiterate how proud I am of the cricket team,” he said. “We were two months away on the road. Four-and-a-half months away is a hell of a long time and the intensity and the passion that these guys trained with has been fantastic. So, look I am very very proud, players are very proud, of the development of the lot of our young players.”We’ve played the most cricket over the last four-and-a-half months than any other team in the world. That’s not an excuse, I’m not using it as an excuse because that’s the way it is. We’ve got to handle that. India have a large pool of players available to them. We didn’t rotate our players as much because we are in a process, we need to educate them in all conditions so that’s exactly the decision we’ve made.”Our planning is done. We’ve got our schedules, we’ve got everything in place leading upto the World Cup. Myself, Inzamam and Sarfaraz [Ahmed] have been completely united in the process that we are going forward.”Even though Sarfaraz’s own form has been under scrutiny, he recently got the backing of the PCB to lead the team in the World Cup. He has averaged only 26.62 in 12 ODI innings over the last year, scoring only one half-century. But with his replacement Mohammad Rizwan not impressing much with the bat in two ODIs and three T20Is against South Africa, the pressure on Sarfaraz was not mounting and Arthur, too, backed the captain primarily for his wicketkeeping skills and form.”It’s very simple, we need to be very fluid with out game plans,” Arthur said. “Sarfaraz has done exceptional work for us up and down the order. I think the thing that we’ve got to realise is over a long tour, form comes and goes and players start playing well and then they slip off the radar a little bit, and we need to then be able to send our form players at any given minute. In terms of fluidity in our batting order it’s whoever is in form and what that situation demands at that particular time. If you see all the best teams in the world have the ability to be flexible. We’re trying to be as flexible as we can. If we didn’t give the opportunity to players in those positions we wouldn’t know.”Understand that Sarfaraz’s first and foremost thing is captain and wicketkeeper, people forget wicketkeeping is a specialist position. Sarfaraz’s numbers over the last four-and-a-half months are mindblowing, one catch dropped, one stumping missed. I can tell you I did the research on the plane coming last night, he’s dropped eight balls in four-and-a-half months, so he is not out of form in his core job. His core job is to keep wickets and to take the catches and make the stumpings, he’s done a job over four-and-a-half months.”Sarfaraz will be the first one to admit that his batting form has come and gone. We have worked exceptionally hard on Sarfaraz’s batting going forward. When Sarfaraz plays well, he wins games for us. I want to reiterate I am not worried about Sarfaraz’s form. Sarfaraz Ahmed is a very very good cricketer. He and I work incredibly close together, we’ve got very close working relationship, as good as I had with any captain. I just need to put that to bed.”