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Michael Vaughan, the former England captain, believes Alastair Cook’s wealth of experience at international level gives him a head start to the Test captaincy

Nagraj Gollapudi30-Aug-2012Michael Vaughan, the former England captain, believes Alastair Cook’s wealth of experience at international level gives him a head start after taking over the Test captaincy from Andrew Strauss who retired from professional cricket on Wednesday.Cook, who has been England’s one-day captain since last year, will take charge for the first time on the tour of India which starts in October and already has 83 Tests to his name.”He is unquestionably England’s most experienced leader to have got the job,” Vaughan told ESPNcricinfo . “He has played 83 Test matches for England. When I got the job I had played 31, Straussy had got the job when he played 50, Nasser Hussain got the job when he had played 47. Even if Cook is still a young boy he is the most experienced guy to ever have taken the role. So he should be in a great position to lead the team.”Strauss’ retirement was the latest instalment of a difficult year for England who are also having to deal with the ongoing Kevin Pietersen stand-off. The Test side has lost six of 11 matches this year to concede the No. 1 ranking to South Africa cumulating in the recent 2-0 series loss to them. However, Vaughan said the basis of English cricket remained solid and there was no need for Cook to press the panic button.According to Vaughan, who was handed the captaincy in 2003, after Nasser Hussain called time on the role after the first Test against South Africa at Edgbaston, most captains assume the captaincy job in equally “tricky” situations. Vaughan led England for five years, starting with the onerous task of phasing out some of his senior team-mates to allow the “new generation” help him reach his goal.”Whenever you get the job you never get in a great circumstance,” he said while promoting the Extreme Sailing Series in Cardiff. “I got the role when there were a lot of senior players around and clearly that transition of bringing in new players has to happen.”So I had to kind of oversee how we were going to rid of the legendary or senior guys who had performed well for England for a number of years and bring a new generation and change the mentality of the team. We had lost to Australia for many, many series. I had to change the mentality of beating the great Australian side. That was my role.”

Who is the right partner for Cook?

The right man to occupy the vacant opening slot left behind by Strauss should be a specialist opener according to Michael Vaughan instead of a middle-order player being moved up.

There has been discussion that one of Jonathan Trott, the current No. 3, or Ian Bell should go alongside Cook. Such a move, Vaughan cautioned, could be counter-productive. “I have heard rumours about Trott or even Bell to move up and open the batting,” he said. “I would advise them to pick an opening batsman, who has done it from an early age. The best openers in the game historically come from people who have done all their lives. Cook and Strauss did that as little boys.”

Another reason Vaughan felt the move could backfire was because an opening batsman generally was more adept at moving down order whereas a middle-order batsman can struggle to settle against the new ball.

“You can go from opening to No.3, but, I am not so sure you can move in time from middle order to open. It is a very specialist position so I would advise them to pick who they feel is the best opening batsman to go with Cook and leave the experience in the middle order. So Trott and Bell, we need those kind of players in the middle of the innings particularly in the parts of the world like India.”

Similarly, it was a difficult time when Strauss took over in the midst of the Pietersen-Peter Moores dispute in 2009. Despite such incidents, Vaughan stressed, England have always held the advantage of having a ready back-up in place. “When Straussy got the role there was a fall-out between Pietersen and Peter Moores, but there was a still a good element of players around. There has been a system for a while now, what I describe as a conveyor belt where England would keep producing players.”And now Cook gets the role again in a tricky circumstance: England have lost six in their last eleven Tests, the Pietersen situation, how does he manage that, only he knows best how to manage that. It is actually good because you can start from afresh and move forward.”Paying tribute to Strauss, Vaughan called him a “good captain,” someone who would always fall in the bracket of the best men to lead England this generation. Equally impressive for Vaughan was the timing of Strauss’ retirement.”The respect side was always there,” Vaughan said. “The way he dealt with people was outstanding. The way he dealt with media was outstanding. And he has won games for England and managed to score runs as a captain. He is right up there with the captains of last 20 years. Andrew Strauss would be in that group that got mentioned quite often. He has done a good job and he has gone out at the right time.”It was Vaughan the captain who handed Strauss his Test cap on debut against New Zealand at Lord’s. A decade later Strauss finished an illustrious career standing next to Vaughan among the most successful Test captains for England. Vaughan had 26 wins alongside 11 losses during his 51-match tenure while Strauss had 24 wins and 11 losses in the 50 Tests at the helm. Yet, according to Vaughan, neither man was destined to be a leader.”I certainly did not think on my debut I would captain England, never mind going on to lead England 51 times and win 26 of those Tests,” Vaughan said. ” I never even expected that. And I never expected Andrew Strauss to have 50 Tests as captain when I gave him the Test cap. When I retired in 2008 Kevin Pietersen got the role and I did not see an opportunity for Strauss to get the job. But it came out of circumstance.”Vaughan called Strauss selfless, a modern leader. “He is very self-deprecating, always looked out for others and the team before himself. That is what makes a good leader in this era, someone who really looks at the rest before he looks at himself. That is really good.”On the August 30, Michael Vaughan is making his way down to Cardiff for the Extreme Sailing Series, Extreme 40 Catamaran race weekend. Raced by many of the world’s best sailors, including Ian Williams the skipper of the GAC Pindar team and three tims World Match Racing Tour champion, the race will take place on Cardiff bay over four days with the event open to the public.

South Africa’s domestic limited-overs competition has been changed to bring it in line with international one-day cricket

Firdose Moonda20-Aug-2011South Africa’s domestic limited-overs competition has been changed to bring it in line with international one-day cricket. The tournament, which was a 40-over event for the last two seasons, will now be a 50-over competition in a bid to prepare for the 2015 World Cup. The decision was taken at Cricket South Africa’s annual general meeting in Port Elizabeth on Saturday on the advice of the cricket committee.”The conditions will be identical to those for ODIs to prepare our players better for international competition,” Gerald Majola, CSA chief executive said. “That should help us to win that elusive ICC limited overs trophy.”In April, after South Africa crashed out of the World Cup at the quarter-final stage, convenor of selectors, Andrew Hudson indicated to ESPNcricinfo that the domestic structure would be changed in order to better prepare the national team for major tournaments. Two months later, CSA announced that the competition would revert back to a 45-over game, as it had been from the 1995-6 season until 2009-10. Now, CSA have decided to replicate the ODI format exactly, in an attempt to win a first World Cup trophy.South Africa’s limited-overs competition had undergone many changes in the past two decades, often with the view to copy innovations in the international game. In the 2005-06 season, when the ICC was experimenting with the use of a “super-sub” and Powerplays, South Africa followed suit. With thoughts of 50-over cricket becoming a thing of the past, the competition was reduced to 40 overs and three Powerplays were added. With the anticipated change in ODIs coming to nothing, CSA are going back to the traditional limited-overs form of the game.The new competition is without a sponsor after mobile telephone operator MTN, who backed the tournament from the 2006-07 season, pulled out of cricket. A sponsor is expected to be announced in the next month.

Daren Ganga who led Trinidad and Tobago to the finals of the Champions League Twenty20 last year will be in charge of the team for the upcoming Caribbean T20 Tournament which will commence on July 22

Cricinfo staff11-Jul-2010Daren Ganga who led Trinidad and Tobago to the finals of the Champions League Twenty20 last year will be in charge of the team for the upcoming Caribbean T20 Tournament which will commence on July 22. The side is packed with quality allrounders such as Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo who are known for their prowess in the shortest format. Imran Khan, Kevon Cooper, Lendl Simmons, Samuel Badree, Navin Stewart and Sherwin Ganga are the other notable allrounders in the side.Ryan Hinds, the left-arm spinning allrounder will lead the Bajan challenge in the tournament, and his side includes four other players who have represented West Indies at the highest level. The presence of Sulieman Benn, Dale Richards, Dwayne Smith and Kemar Roach makes Barbados strong contenders for the title, and their experience will be complemented well by the three new faces in the side.Jason Hinds, Ryan’s brother, is an offspinner adept at batting at various positions. Jason was impressive in the last two editions of the General T20 championship in addition to stand-out performances with the ball in the Barbados Cricket Association’s trials for the Caribbean T20. Ashley Nurse will also bolster the spin attack with his off-breaks, while Larry Babb is a left-arm seamer who can be dangerous with the bat, as evidenced in his 46 off 25 balls during one of the trial games.Omar Phillips will take over captaincy of the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) side from Floyd Reifer, who will now coach the side in addition to his role as a player. Other senior members of the CCC side include wicketkeeper Chadwick Walton and offspinner Ryan Austin, who both made their Test debuts last year.The Caribbean T20 tournament will be contested by two groups of four teams each. The top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals, followed by a final and a third-place playoff. The remaining squads are to be named on July 13.The winner of the tournament will be the sole Caribbean representative in the second edition of the Champions League Twenty20 tournament to be held in South Africa later this year.Trinidad and Tobago squad: Daren Ganga (capt), Lendl Simmons, Adrian Barath, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Bravo, William Perkins, Kieron Pollard, Kevon Cooper, Imran Khan, Samuel Badree, Sherwin Ganga, Navin Stewart, Dave Mohammed, Denesh Ramdin.Barbados squad: Ryan Hinds (capt), Jason Hinds, Alcindo Holder, Javon Searles, Kevin Stoute, Larry Babb, Sulieman Benn, Jonathan Carter, Kirk Edwards, Kemar Roach, Carlo Morris, Dale Richards, Ashley Nurse, Dwayne Smith; Desmond Haynes (manager), Emmerson Trotman (coach), Vasbert Drakes (assistant coach), Jacqui King-Mowatt (physiotherapist).Combined Campuses and Colleges squad: Omar Phillips (capt), Floyd Reifer (player/coach), Ryan Austin, Miles Bascombe, Ruel Brathwaite, Romel Currency, Kavesh Kantasingh, Gilford Moore, Kjorn Ottley, Nekoli Parris, Raymon Reifer, Marlon Richards, Chadwick Walton, Ryan Wiggins, Barrington Yearwood.

“What you need to do is to make sure that once you involve and engage somebody, you’ve got to give them clarity regarding the role”

Tristan Lavalette29-Oct-2024Former PCB chairman Ramiz Raja believes the hasty departure of Gary Kirsten could impact Pakistan’s ability to attract high-profile international coaching candidates in the future.Pakistan cricket descended into familiar tumult when Kirsten on Monday resigned as the head coach of Pakistan’s ODI and T20I sides. He was six months into a two-year contract and departed on the eve of Pakistan’s white-ball tour of Australia.Kirsten, who was at the helm of India’s triumph at the 2011 World Cup, leaves his role without having coached Pakistan in a single ODI.Even by PCB standards, the public struggles have been messy and threaten to deter prospective international coaches. Prominent candidates Shane Watson and Darren Sammy had previously been sounded out earlier this year before turning down offers to coach the national team.”When you search for international coaches, with the kind of backlash that you will probably get from Gary Kirsten’s resignation…it’s not going to be an easy, straightforward job for Pakistan to hire international talent,” Ramiz told reporters in a media interaction ahead of the Australia tour.”What you need to do is to make sure that once you involve and engage somebody, you’ve got to give them clarity regarding the role.”I don’t know whether that clarity was given to Gary Kirsten or how he wanted to get Pakistan into this one-day phase, what he wanted to achieve. I’m not privy to that.”It’s not great news [Kirsten’s departure] because Pakistan needed an experienced hand. From a distance, it doesn’t look great just before a tour.”A rift had developed between Kirsten and Jason Gillespie, Pakistan’s newly-minted Test coach, and the PCB since the board decided to strip them of selection powers after Pakistan’s first Test defeat against England.ESPNcricinfo understands that Gillespie, who will fill the shoes of Kirsten on the tour of Australia, has also been left thoroughly unimpressed by the recent changes. A new selection panel – a third in three months – was formed and, in an unusual development, included umpire Aleem Dar.”I don’t know about an umpire being a selector, so the jury is still out,” Ramiz said. “I still believe there’s a strong role for a leader in cricket. You can’t run cricket from the sidelines. The leader has to be made accountable and the only way to make him accountable is to give him some powers.”Pakistan will arrive in Australia with not only a fresh white-ball coach in Gillespie, but also with Mohammad Rizwan taking the captaincy reins following Babar Azam’s recent resignation.It looms as a tough initiation for Rizwan, who will lead a relatively inexperienced squad for a trio of ODIs and T20Is against Australia.”He’s got his chance and what he needs to do is to stamp his authority and maybe get the players that he wants,” Ramiz said of Rizwan. “Right now, there’s a little bit of hodgepodge where the selection committee is nominating the playing XI. I’m not too sure it happens anywhere else in the world.”I just hope Rizwan gets his playing XI that he feels comfortable with.”Having been widely lambasted for antagonising Pakistan Test captain Shan Masood during a television interview following the England series, Ramiz called for “quiet and calm” within Pakistan cricket.”I think it’s important for all the stakeholders to understand the value of a non controversial start to what appears to be an extremely heavyweight calendar,” he said.”I just hope things are on the mend. I think Pakistan clearly were on a desperate mode against England, and thankfully the series was won. I just hope they carry this momentum forward even though it’s a different format.”But it’s [Pakistan cricket] a difficult terrain, it’s a difficult area to govern because things happen very quickly.”

Surrey ‘disappointed and frustrated’ as allrounder opts against 9000-mile round trip from USA

Matt Roller13-Jul-2023Surrey were “disappointed and frustrated” to learn late on Wednesday evening that Sunil Narine has ruled himself out of Vitality Blast Finals Day on Saturday, abandoning a planned 9,000-mile round trip from Dallas to Birmingham. ESPNcricinfo revealed on Tuesday that Surrey were expecting Narine to return from his Major League Cricket (MLC) commitments with LA Knight Riders in order to play for them this weekend, before returning to Dallas immediately after Finals Day at Edgbaston.But the club said in a statement on Thursday that they had been informed on Wednesday night about a change in Narine’s plans. Narine will instead remain in the USA, leaving Surrey with only one overseas player for Saturday’s showpiece in Australia’s Sean Abbott.Alec Stewart, Surrey’s director of cricket, said: “We were aware when we signed Sunil for the T20 Blast that he could be unavailable for Finals Day due to his pre-signed contract with the Knight Riders in the MLC.Related

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“However, all of the subsequent conversations with the various parties since he arrived for the group games and leading into this week were that we would have him back for Saturday, so it’s disappointing and frustrating to lose a player of Sunil’s quality at such late notice.”Kieron Pollard, Narine’s long-time team-mate and close friend, jokingly suggested to ESPNcricinfo that Surrey – the county he represented last year, alongside Narine – should have laid on a private jet to ensure his availability.”Maybe they should have sent some private jets for him, make him comfortable and then he might have been able to do it pretty comfortably!” Pollard said. “It’s totally up to the individual how you plan out your contracts, because there are going to be tournaments that are overlapping.”ECB regulations require players to be registered with a county in the group stages of a competition in order to be available for the knockout stages, so Surrey will not be permitted an overseas replacement for Narine.Dan Moriarty, their left-arm spinner, played his first Blast game of the season in their quarter-final victory over Lancashire and will likely retain his spot. Cam Steel, the legspinning allrounder, is the closest thing Surrey have to a like-for-like replacement for Narine, while Dan Worrall and Jordan Clark may also come into contention.”I genuinely think it’s a wonderful opportunity,” Gareth Batty, Surrey’s coach, told ESPNcricinfo. “We’ve got a great squad. The worst part of my job is telling very fine players that they’re not playing. I hate it. It is the worst thing. It’s another opportunity to tell someone that they are playing.”I truly believe that we have lots of people that can play at any point across any competition and be a real success. Obviously Sunny is a wonderful player, but we’ll have a wonderful player coming in.”

Olly Stone due to play “some part” in Bears’ T20 Blast season after year-long absence

ESPNcricinfo staff24-May-2022Chris Woakes remains troubled by a long-standing knee injury which has ruled him out for the first two months of the county season and Warwickshire have set “no timescale” for his return.Woakes was due to make his first appearance of the summer against Somerset at the end of April but has not played since England’s third Test against West Indies in Grenada and was not considered for the squad for the first two Tests against New Zealand next month.Woakes has managed an issue in his right knee for the vast majority of his career, which he has previously described as “just a dodgy knee from too much bowling”.”He has been struggling with a longstanding knee injury and has also had a little ailment with his ankle, but it’s the knee injury that is holding him back,” Mark Robinson, Warwickshire’s head coach, said. “At the moment there is no timescale on when he will be back.”Along with Mark Wood and Jonny Bairstow, he was one of three players involved in all of England’s series last winter – the T20 World Cup in the UAE, the Ashes and the West Indies tour – and struggled for form, averaging 52.36 across six away Tests and conceding 20 runs in an over as New Zealand pulled off an unlikely chase in the World Cup semi-final.He was entrusted with the new ball in the Caribbean in the absence of James Anderson and Stuart Broad but struggled for penetration, in keeping with his poor record away from home in Test cricket.Related

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Olly Stone, Woakes’ Warwickshire team-mate, is expected to play “some part” in their T20 Blast season after nearly a year out with a stress fracture of the lower back.”Stoney has had a niggle around his hip cartilage which he picked up in a Second XI match,” Robinson said. “We thought we had got him back but then he aggravated it in a club game, but he is progressing and is probably about 10 to 14 days away from ready, depending how quickly it heals.”We are definitely hoping he will play some part in the Blast, though whether he will have the overs under his belt to play a four-day game in that interim period, we don’t know.”Liam Norwell, another absent Warwickshire seamer, is in contention to return for their Championship fixture against Lancashire next month.”He has had a tough time with one thing after another… [but] Liam is probably the closest to a return,” Robinson added.

The South Africa pacer emphasised that he wasn’t retiring though

Varun Shetty02-Jan-2021South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn has announced that he will not be playing in the 2021 edition of the IPL, through a tweet that said he was making himself “unavailable” for his current franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore this year.Steyn indicated that he was taking some time off during that period, and in a follow-up tweet said that he would continue to play in other leagues, “nicely spaced out” to allow him to pursue other things. At the end of both tweets, the 37-year-old said he was not retiring.